King of the Loony Bin
by Saphie Virgo
Summary: The adventures Zack Addy has after Season 3 Episode: Pain in the Heart. His life solving mysteries within the asylum.
1. Welcome to Your New Home

May 25, 2008

8:00am

A black van pulls up to a very grim looking building surrounded by tall wire fences. The weather is warm, but the sky is dark only reflecting the feelings of gloom that settle at the bottom of Zachary Addy's stomach as he his escorted across the street.

A tall woman woman with thin lips holds his wrists so he won't get away. Although it's hardly likely he'd get very far. And where would he go? The woman's grasp tightens and young Zack winces in pain as she grips closer to his previously -and severely- burned hands.

_I guess I deserve this._ Zack thinks to himself as the woman slips a card through a slot and the big gates open up to the two of them. But no matter how many times he went over it in his head, he could trace his logic back to something, reasonable. To him at the time, it seems that there was, at some point, a bit of reasoning. It was so clear! His own thoughts are interrupted when the woman that was escorting him asks him his name.

"I told you in the car." Zack whispers. The woman shoots him a glare and goes through a thick manilla folder. They are in the building now. The walls are white and everyone in the room is staring.

"Zachary Uriah Addy." the woman says.

"Doctor." He mumbles.

"Excuse me?"

"_Dr._ Zachary Uriah Addy." he says a little louder. The people behind him begin to whisper. He rolls his eyes. Not at the people, that he already knows are talking about him, but at the woman with the folder who cared so little of him that she didn't bother to learn his name the first time. Needless to say, he decided not to waste his time learning her name which is something he would've been able to do with his high IQ and Photographic memory.

The woman begins to talk with a short skinny man at the front desk in the middle of the room. Not casually, of course, but discussing Zack's own various "problems" as the woman called it. They speak in low voices, careful to keep their private exchange from Zack and curious eavesdroppers.

There is a couch in the back of the room and Zack goes to sit. It had been a long week. From burning his own hands to, having his friends and coworkers find that he was the secret apprentice of a serial cannibal and responsible for the death of a lobbyist. He tries not to think of it to much.

Working as a forensic anthropologist at the Jeffersonian was like home to him. All his friends worked there and he was more than content with his life. They worked to solve murders by studying bones, the dirt and bugs around the body, and what there life was like before the victim's death. Dr. Jack Hodgins was his best friend who worked as an entomologist and Zack did pretty much whatever Hodgins told him. Whether it was good or bad. And to be frank, it was more of one than the other. He wasn't stupid though, he had two doctorates. Angela Monetenegro was the pretty forensic artist who was extremely talented. She could construct a face just by looking at the skull and tissue markers. Not to mention she was an expert in computer technology. Dr. Camille Saroyan was the forensic pathologist who knew how to run things. Zack made sure to never cross her path and always admired her personality. Even if she was always the one to say "No" to his and Hodgins various experiments. Then there was Dr. Temperance Brennan whom Zack worked for as her assistant before he got his doctorate. No doubt she was pretty, and very intelligent. She always got things, that no one else would get, however her social ineptness was at the same level as Zack's and they were easily labeled as nerds. And Agent Seeley Booth. Zack was sure Booth knew everything he didn't and always looked up to him even though Booth was often cold on their relationship. He loved them. He loved them all.

Suddenly his eyes begin to sting. He tries not to blink so a tear won't fall. But he's too weak for that kind of thing.

"Are you crying?" A young girl is seated next to him as she tilts her head. He hadn't noticed her sit down, being all lost in his memories. Zack tries not to answer. If he does, he would have to explain himself and that would lead to a conversation, which would lead to the girl talking back which would lead to some sort of a relationship and any relationship, big or small, Zack desperately wants to avoid. He doesn't want to get hurt again. "Well? Are you?"

Zack sniffles and tries not to come up with a sensible excuse, but ends up giving up on keeping his feelings from the world and uttering, "What a stupid question to ask. Seeing as you can plainly see tears in my eyes."

"Oh," the girl seems somewhat offended. "You coulda just had allergies or someth'n"

Zack tries to keep his composure. He doesn't want to make a scene. The girl presses on.

"What's your name?" she asks.

Trying not to make eye contact, Zack replies, "Dr. Zachary Addy." the girl gasps.

"A doctor eh? What are you doin in here for?" she asks. Zack shakes his head. "Come on! Tell me! What'd ya do? Did you kill a patient? Take some funny medicine? Screw a nurse?" Zack turns to face the girl. She has dirty blond hair and green eyes.

"How old are you?" Zack asks mainly wondering what kind of imagination she has.

"Fifteen, but don't tell that fat kid, Lenney, over there, I've convinced him I'm forty." she thrusts her hand in Zack's face. "I'm Lilac." she says. Zack ignores her invitation to shake her hand. "Don't you want to ask why _I'm_ here?"

_No_, Zack thinks in his head.

"My mom, she don't trust me, she thinks I need to be 'watched' I was but in a rehab for girls last summer for cutting and an eating disorder. The adults turned there backs for two seconds and I was already on the ground pull'n at this girls hair. See that man right over there in the corner? Ya, that's Ben. He's been asked to 'watch' me. Asked by my mama who sent me here. My mama's a bitch." Lilac states. Zack doesn't like the way Ben glares at the two of them or how Lilac puts "watch" in finger quotations. Everything about Lilac makes him uneasy. Without a reason, he gets up and walks toward the woman who escorted him in.

"Are you ready Mr. Addy?" she asks him.

"Dr. Addy." Zack corrects. The woman doesn't acknowledge it. Instead she turns around and holds up her arms theatrically.

"Welcome to your new home."


	2. The Pyromaniac, Unbathed, Rule Breaker

May 26, 2008

10:15 am

It had been a strange day full of paper work, remembering phone numbers of emergency contacts, and reminding everyone that he would like to be called "Dr. Addy" instead of "Mr. Addy". He didn't want anyone to forget it. More importantly, Zack didn't want to forget it. It was the only thing he had left.

The day of May 26, comes in with sunshine and, while it shows no evident signs of melancholiness, makes Zack feel more and more depressed. Zack sits quietly in a loud cafeteria, picking at bland scrambled eggs and a sickeningly grey muffin. Loosing his appetite, he decides to scan the room.

Lately, Zack has become more and more fascinated by "reading people". He had learned it from Agent Booth a few months ago. You can tell a lot about someone just by looking at them. Of course, Zack already stands by his logic as he previously worked every day to find as much information as he could by studying human bones. Zack smiles while thinks of how much easier it is when there is flesh and clothing, and hair.

Like the thin lipped woman from the day before, for example. She has brown hair that is in a bun so tight, Zack often fears her hair will fall right out. But it isn't her hair that makes Zack so curious about her. It was the way she looks at and interacts with others. The way she talks to Mr. Bleamen (the director the of the "Mental Facility"), she avoids looking at his eyes but rather the top of his head. While she listens to him, she focuses more on how he moves his mouth as if for a back up in case she can't hear the words he's saying.

The man who serves the meals to the patients is a completely different story. He always looks directly into one's eyes and barely says a word. Even though he seldom speaks, it seems he knows everything about someone, just by a look in their eyes. Zack tries to avoid eye contact with him every time he gets his food. The thought that this man might learn everything about someone with one glance is strange and also a little scary.

Zack's studying is interrupted by a brisk tap on his shoulder. It is Lilac.

"Hows it going, Doc?" she asks, taking a seat next to him. Zack takes a deep sign. Ignoring her has been harder than he thought.

"I really do not mean to be rude to you, but I am not in the mood for a conversation." he says.

"Well it's not like you're going to eat. This food is like shit." Lilac says.

"I have to. If I don't eat breakfast, I won't have the nutrients to keep me going through the day. And also, I don't like how you use your language. It is both profane and rude."

"Oh so now I'm the rude one?" Lilac grumbles but gets quiet. Zack on one hand feels bad, but also very relieved to be avoiding a conversation with the girl. However, right as Zack begins to calm, a tall dark haired boy who doesn't look like he's bathed in a while slides in the seat in front of him. Zack tries to clench his fists but quickly flexes his fingers in fear of the pain.

"Who's the new guy?" the boy asks Lilac. She nudges Zack and talks very obnoxiously.

"This is Zack. He's a _doctor_." Lilac raises her eyebrows like it's the most exciting thing ever. Coming from a mental institution, it probably is.

"Oh good. Cause, I got this rash on my tummy and it's really-"

"I'm not that kind of doctor. I'm a forensic anthropologist and I work at the Jeffersonian -"

"Ya, I don't know what that is..." the boy says, squinting at him.

"It means I study bones. Like from dead people..." Zack tries his best to dumb it down for the boy who, looks at least sixteen, but judging by his lack of vocabulary (mainly the use of the word "tummy") doesn't seem well educated.

"Sick, man." he responds. Zack nods. He has heard the word "sick" to many times in the past few days. All in different contexts, of course, but still. The word's begun to wear out and seem dreary and mundane to him.

"Oh baby, don't make fun of him. He's smarter than you!" Lilac says, gently swatting at the gross boys' arm. Ben from a few feet away gives Lilac a sharp glare at the word "baby".

"Sorry bro, I'm Phoenix by the way." the boy says. He is much different from Lilac, instead of holding out a hand, he simply nods his head as if he approves of the introduction. He hardly makes eye contact.

"He's here for something called 'extreme pyromania', " Lilac says.

"Meaning you find pleasure in watching things burn." interrupts Zack.

"Yeah," Phoenix grins, "man, I haven't seen fire since the day I got here. It's so beautiful. Sometimes, I can catch a glimpse of, Jerry, the guard over there light his morning cigarette-oh! There he goes!" with that, Phoenix sits up a little taller and cranes his next to peer through screen doors as a man outside stands and lights a cigarette. It's only about three or four seconds as a small flame creeps out of the lighter. Phoenix face softens and his eyes almost glaze. Then, the light goes out and all that is left is a faint glow from the very tip. Phoenix takes a deep breath and lies back. "Beautiful" he says again. Someone in the back calls his name.

"Don't go." Lilac pleads. Phoenix shrugs his shoulders.

"I have to, it's my lawyer. She wants to talk to me about my step-dad. I'll be back by lunch babe." Phoenix looks to Ben, gives him a wink and dives in to give Lilac a peck on the cheek.

"Hey!" Ben calls but Phoenix ignores him. He disappears almost as quickly as the flame from the lighter.

"I'm gonna marry him ya know." Lilac sighs and rests her head on the table.

"Pardon?" Zack asks, not realizing that he is contradicting his previous belief that he would not start a conversation.

"Me and Phoenix. If we get out of here, we're running straight to the court house and getting married, if we don't, we'll marry right here."

"But you're fifteen, and he's-"

"Eighteen. Ya, I know. But since we wound up here, we've never really been one for the rules eh?"


	3. Get Well Soon

May 26, 2008

12:30 pm

Zack's first guest is one of his best friends, Dr. Jack Hodgins. Zack looks up hopefully as the thin lipped woman opens the door. The two can do nothing but stare at each other, Zack is not used to not seeing his coworker and old roommate for this long and Hodgins with his eyebrows furrowed watches as his best friend sit at a cold metal table picking at loose threads in his gloves.

"How ya hold'n up, buddy?" he finally asks him, with a hopeful smile.

"Fine I guess. I feel as though nothings changed." he pauses, "Nothing has changed, Hodgins. Don't let them fool you. I know they talk about my anti-socialism like I-" Hodgins simply smiles.

"I know, I know. That's nothing new." Zack's spirits lift a little at the joke. "What I mean is, are they treating you well?"

"I'm treated like everyone else here which I don't have a problem with, although my supervisor doesn't seem to like me too much."

"Oh yeah, I had to meet her on my way in, she's kind of a bitch."

"I don't know why that is." Zack frowns.

"Probably had something up her-"

"That's not relevant, Hodgins. I mean why would one refer to another as 'bitch' when that means female dog."

"Aw I miss you Zack."

"I'm right here..." but Zack knows exactly what Hodgins means. The real fact of the matter is, he misses him too.

"I brought ya something." Hodgins smiles holding out a small present. Zack tilts his head in bewilderment.

"A gift?"

"No, it's an ice cream cake." Hodgins says sarcastically. "Of course it's a gift." He slides it over to Zack who doesn't budge. "What's wrong?"

"It's just that gifts are usually given out of celebration like at Christmas or on birthdays."

"Well yeah, but-" Zack slides the gift away.

"Well it's not Christmas, or my birthday." Zack explains. Hodgins laughs.

"Yeah, I know but-"

"At other times, gifts are given to be congratulatory. I killed a man Hodgins, are you congratulating me?" Hodgins shakes his head.

"Think of it as a 'get-well-soon' gift." He slides the present back to Zack who takes it with little hesitation.

"A Rubik's cube? You're humoring me." Zack smirks.

"That I am, my friend." Hodgins smiles big. "I figured you'd get bored around here. Seeing as they talk about you as someone so _anti-social_."

"I know some people." Zack protests, still uneasy about admitting that he knows people. For on thing, he doesn't mean to make and "friends" if he is to work hard to get out as fast as he can and that would just mean more people to say goodbye to. For another, a place like this isn't the best place to meet new people.

"Really?"

"Yes. Two kids whom I had no intention of knowing in the first place and no intention of knowing any more of them. To be honest, I just want to get in and get out."

"I get that." Hodgins nods. He stands up. "Well I'm sorry this was so short, but I got to get back to the lab."

"You're already working on cases without me?" Zack's face changes. His eyebrows go forward as if hopeful Hodgins would say "no" or at least lie to him. His big brown eyes widening to take in the deep reality that he is no longer needed.

"Well...yeah. Dr. Brennan's breaking in a new grad student and-" Hodgins rolls his hands into fists. He knows he's said to much. Zack looks up, trying his best to hold back tears. He impresses himself as he keeps his composure. Better than the day before, at least.

"Please give him or her my best wishes."

"I promise I will visit more. Ange is gonna stop by tomorrow and Booth and Brennan will be in the building anyway and they might want to say hello."

"Why will Booth and Brennan be in the building tomorrow?" Zack asks, but he doesn't care. He's still to excited to see more people.

"They're interviewing a suspect in our murder case."

"Really?" This interests Zack.

"Know anyone by the name of Felix McIntyre?" Hodgins asks. Zack shakes his head.


	4. Orian and Monroe

May 26, 2008

5:30 pm

A loud bell rings for dinner and everyone crowds into a large cafeteria. To Zack, dinner is often peaceful but dinner at the _facility _is anything but that. Despite a spell of solitude at lunch, Zack is once again greeted by Lilac like breakfast with a sharp shoulder tap and a new stranger.

"Orian is my best friend." Lilac explains gesturing towards a young man with pale blond hair and electric blue eyes. "He wanted to know what happened to your hands." Zack looks down at his hands in sadness. It all rushes back to him. Waiting to add the chemicals that would case a blast to delay the security cameras. Waiting to long because Hodgins wouldn't stay out of the way. By the time Hodgins was at a safer distance, the thermoplastic reached it's boiling point creating a bigger explosion than intended. He closes his eyes and tries to force them image of everyone's horrified faces out of his mind.

"They were burned." his voice has reduced to a small whisper.

"By the nurse you screwed." Lilac says, trying to understand.

"No-"

"By Pheonix." Orian guesses.

"No."

"He doesn't like to talk." Lilac explains to Orian. The two exchange a series of glances like a secret language and sit across from Zack.

The three of them silently examine each other. Zack takes the opportunity to read Lilac. They way she twists and ties her standard issued clothing to make them look fashionable even if everyone in the room is wearing the same thing shows she strives to maintain individuality.

Next subject of the matter is Orian. So new to his eyes Zack struggles to find one simple thing about him. Orian's eyes shift from place to place. He compulsively taps against the table, stops for a long moment, and then starts tapping again. While it becomes a start-stop pattern, the rate at which he taps his finger is never constant. Sometimes, he would fumble with his hair or the neckline of his shirt. Sometimes he would focus on a loaf of bread. Or a spot in the middle of the cafeteria completely vacant. Staring right there, he gets the most angry. At this point, Zack understands, Orian is a more serious patient.

"Schizophrenia." Zack wonders aloud.

"Gesundheit" Lilac says. Orian looks up, his eye twitches and then he smiles.

"So you read minds?" he asks Zack. Zack smiles a little.

"You could say that."

"He reads bones too." Lilac points out. Orian ignores her.

"No, there's no way you can read minds."

"What makes you jump to the conclusion so quickly?" Zacks asks him. Saying this makes him think of Booth, who seems to always jump to conclusions and Brennan would always detest it, even when it's the most obvious. Zack learned, working for Brennan for so long to always base an analysis on facts and evidence.

"If you were in my head, you'd go mad. Nothing would make sense anymore everything would be mixed matched and inside out. You would have to learn everything you've ever learned over and over again because you wouldn't be too sure about what's right, what's wrong-hell you wouldn't even know up from down."

"I guess we're all mad here aren't we?" Zack raises his eyebrows and leans back. He's beginning to like this kid.

Suddenly, with a calm smile -like he does this everyday- he takes a handful of mashed potatoes and smears them in Lilac's hair. She screams.

"Hey you!" Ben calls, marching over to the lunch table.

"BEN!" Orian exclaims in a change of personality, springing up to hug him. He wraps his arms tight around Ben's waist and squeezes.

"That's enough." Ben's voice is deep and commanding. Orian's face softens.

"B-b-b-but B-b-b-b-b-ben I love you."

"Why did you put mashed potatoes in Lilac's hair?" he asks Orian.

"Monroe told me." Zack looks around but there is no one around. At least, close enough to have told Orian without Zack or Lilac hearing.

"May I speak with Monroe." Ben demands. He seems like a no-nonsense kind of man. By the tone in his voice, it also seems he's done this before.

"I am Monroe." Orian announces in a change in his voice. Without questioning the change in character, Ben goes along like there's nothing wrong. Zack sits and watches both amused and somewhat frightened.

"Monroe, were you in anyway provoked by Lilac?"

"No sir. Lilac is a fine young lady." Monroe says quite calmly.

"You hear that Ben? I ain't done nothing wrong. I've been a good girl. It's been two weeks since I hit Lenney." Lilac looks upwards as the buff, tall, Ben towers over her. "and I hit nobody since." she carefully adds.

"What about you, there?" Ben asks Zack. Zack feels a little weak being stared down by such a big man.

"What about me?"

"Did Lilac provoke Ori-er Monroe to put mashed potatoes in her hair."

"It sort happened spontaneously I-"

"That's all I need to know." Ben nods. "You can't always trust everything this kid says." he gestures to Orian. "You never know what ego he is."


	5. Booth and Brennan

May 27, 2008

10:45 am

"Dr. Brennan!" Zack calls from down the hallway. His old mentor swiftly turns around and her eyes get a little brighter as she discovers who has called her name.

"Zack!" She turns and rushes over to him but it seems Zack is more excited than she is. He bolts towards her and her partner, Agent Booth who lingers for a slight moment before following Brennan's stride. The scene almost resembles a small boy rushing to his parents picking him up from a long day at kindergarten. But it's hard to say if the analogy fully applies. Zack definitely looked up to both Brennan and Booth like a child would to his parents but the sad reality is, the kindergardener gets to go home with his parents and Zack will be left behind.

"You're crushing my rib cage." Zack can barely utter the words as Dr. Brennan pulls him into a huge bear hug.

"I'm so glad we found you!" she smiles.

"Yeah your supervisor was a pain in the ass. It was like she couldn't understand a word I was saying." Booth puts his hands on his hips like all those FBI agents do when they get discouraged. Zack tried to do it for a week once just to see how it feels and what kind of attention he would get. Only a series of confused looks from Hodgins could be the result.

"She speaks English" Zack replies, still gasping for air from Dr. Brennan's hug.

"Come on Booth, even I don't know what you're saying half the time." she grins.

"That's cause you Squints take everything literally." Booth shakes his head and turns to Zack. "Hey, you don't know anyone by the name of Felix McIntyre?"

"Hogdins asked me the same question when he was here yesterday, unfortunately, I hardly know anyone here."

"Maybe you've seen his face. Show Zack the profile." Dr. Brennan suggests.

"He's not really on the case..." Zack's heart sinks at these words.

"He's no different than that girl we talked to in the cafeteria. He's just a...witness." Dr. Brennan talks very calmly and, surprisingly without reluctance, Booth removes from his bag a thick folder.

Zack is surprised at how fast the stubborn Agent Booth obeys Dr. Brennan but completely forgets it when something catches his eye. Paper clipped to this folder is a photograph of Phoenix glaring upwards.

"I-I do know him. They call him Phoenix. Wait, what happened? Why is he a part of this case?"

"He k-" but before Agent Booth can say anything more, Dr. Brennan shoots him a look she is never tired of him giving him. "Fine. _We believe_ he killed his step-father."

"Right. We _believe_. We don't _know_ anything yet because we don't have the evidence so don't jump to the conclusion." Dr. Brennan scolds.

"Phoenix is a little...unstable-and that's coming from me!- but I don't think he'd commit something like a murder." Zack assures his old colleagues.

"Then he's not a very lucky boy." Booth says, sliding a paper from the folder. "Peter Greene. Body found in a pit just north of Alexandria." he begins to read aloud.

"Horribly burned skin charred bones and two gun shot wounds in the skull." Brennan adds. Zack frowns and tries to shush the two of them.

"Why are you telling me all this? I'm not on the case remember? It'd be the same as telling Lenney over there who your prime suspects are." Zack throws his arm backwards to gesture to a round red headed boy who looks both confused and frightened to the mention of his name. Agent Booth looks to Brennan as if to anticipate an answer he already knows all the words to.

"We trust you Zack." Dr. Brennan begins. Agent Booths stares he down a little more. "and we-_I_ need your help."

"Why can't you ask your new intern." Zack says, accidently a little more coldly than he wanted to.

"Zack-" Dr. Brennan gently touches his arm, understanding what his feeling.

"I'm sorry Dr. Brennan, I really do wish I could help but, I no longer work for the Jeffersonian and I think it wouldn't be..." he searches for the right word. But he is tired and a little overwhelmed that all that comes out is "...right."

"Not right? You have a doctorate in forensic-"

"I don't need to be reminded of _that, _thank you. I'm sorry Dr. Brennan," with every word his heart sinks lower and lower. "but I cannot assist you in this case." And he regrets his words at the breath that follows. Yes he wanted to work on the case. He wanted to help in anyway possible. He wanted to feel like his team hadn't forgotten him. Like nothing's changed. But angst boils up inside Zack. Anger for them for leaving his behind. Anger in himself for doing such a thing as ending up here.

And it was more than that. Much more. Nothing can describe how he feels.

"I understand, Zack." Dr. Brennan says with an accepting nod. But no one can understand. It's impossible. Ironically. It is the first time in a Mental Asylum that Zack feels...crazy. And as Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan turned around. He falls apart.

He's never seen tears fall so fast. But he can't call his two ex-colleagues back. No way they can see him cry. So he lets them go. As they disappear, Zack turns away and slumps to his dorm. Once in solitude, he falls asleep. And sleeps until lunch.


	6. Who? Claire?

May 27, 2008

12:00 pm

A young woman sits alone at a table in the cafeteria. Long dark hair covers her face so no one can see her eyes. She fears if they see her eyes, they will already know to much about her. She is Zack's current "object of studying or reading". She is beautiful. And everyone knows it. Everyone, it seems, but her. She is so peculiar.

Shane from group therapy sits beside her and tries to talk to her. The girl refuses to speak. Shane is young, charming, and by Zack's weird "reading" he knows that all the girls in his group therapy class love Shane. Slowly, Shane reaches out and touches the girl's hand. She retracts it quickly and shakes her head and more and more hair falls forward until Zack cannot even see her face. Shane gently tries to brush the hair from her face to tuck behind her ear but the girl bolts up and runs away.

"Who is she?" Zack asks Lilac as the girl disappears through the cafeteria doors. Lilac, who has just sat down besides Zack cranes her neck and nods her head.

"Who Claire?"

"I guess Claire." Zack says. Lilac puts on a devilish grin.

"Oooh CLAIRE." Lilac nudges him, emphasizing each and every letter.

"I would like it if you weren't so close to me." Zack mutters trying not to be rude. But with Lilac, he almost doesn't care if he's rude or not anymore.

"_Claire_." She repeats with a giggle.

"Yes what about her?" Zack asks, hoping it will stop Lilac's juvenile teasing.

"Oh nothing. That she's scary antisocial. Pushes everyone she meets away. I met her in my rehab last summer. I wouldn't try to go after her if you're afraid of rejection."

"Well I wasn't planning on-"

"On second thought you two would be perfect. What with your awkwardness and stuff. And her 'Avoident Personality Disorder'."

"That's wonderful." The sarcasm in Zack's voice is almost deadly. "I'll make sure to invite you to the wedding."

"Speaking of weddings." Phoenix appears with his lunch. "I made you this my sweet darling." he pulls from his pocket a small ring made of paper, glitter, and feathers.

"Oh baby it's beautiful!" Lilac giggles. It looks like it was crafted from a six year old. Phoenix looks somewhat proud of himself.

"Well Martha says I should have a creative outlet. You know something to do besides burning shit."

"You're a real Leonardo DiCaprio!" Lilac giggles and wraps her arms around him.

"Divinci. I think you mean Divinci." Zack points out.

"Well who painted the Mono Lisa?"

"Divinci. DiCaprio was in the Titanic."

"Whatever." she giggles and kisses Phoenix.

The kiss lasts pretty long. Long enough for some of the patients to throw crumpled napkins at them yelling things like, "Get a room!" and "Hey no PDA" and "I hope you know she's only with you for your Golden Eggs" which came from Orian. And "Eugh! Cougar!" which came from Lenney. Zack is going to take upon the opportunity to sneak out of the cafeteria when a thought anchors him to his seat. _Where is Ben?_


	7. An Afternoon With Miss Montenegro

May 27, 2008

3:00 pm

Zack's supervisor meets with him in the afternoon just before Angela is scheduled to visit.

"Good afternoon Mr. Addy." Her perfume is strong. So strong, Zack can smell more than enough of it from halfway across is dorm.

"_Dr._ Addy." Zack corrects, almost choking on the cherry scented air. The woman ignores him.

"This is your completed schedule. All your therapy sessions and what not. There is a recommendation here for Dr. Lance Sweets. He will be seeing you at least once or twice a week." Zack lifts his head at the familiar name.

"A recommendation?"

"Yes, your first session is on Thursday." the woman says. She begins to speak more about therapy and treatment while Zack's mind wanders. It's not like him to loose attention like this, but the perfume makes it harder for him to concentrate.

He loses himself in a day dream. Suddenly, he is standing in a blue lab coat leaning over a pile of bones on a cold silver table. The room smells like rubber gloves and chemicals. It's almost hypnotic. Zack's eyes fall on a particularly interesting metacarpal on the left hand of the skeleton that seems to stand out. Zack leans in closer to examine it when he hears footsteps. Immediately thinking he's not supposed to be there, he bolts upwards to face Dr. Brennan.

"Anything wrong Zack?" she asks him.

"No no Dr. Brennan. I'm fine. I'm not too sure if I'm in the right place or not-"

"No, I mean on the victim." Dr. Brennan says casually. Zack stands there, a little confused as to what to do next in the situation.

"Oh, well look here," he points to the metacarpal he was inspecting.

"Wow, that _is_ interesting. What do you think could've happened?" she asks him. Zack can't find the words.

"Maybe she tried to block the murder weapon?" he suggests taking more of a wild guess than an educated guess which he is not used to. Dr. Brennan shakes her head.

"It doesn't seem possible. Remember that the victim was unconscious when our murderer stabbed her."

"Right." Zack says.

"Now if only we can identify what happened here. There are no other wounds besides the bullet wound to the skull."

"Well, I must say this one _is_ difficult." Zack admits.

"Mr. Addy!" and Zack is yanked back into reality.

"Yes ma'am."

"Please pay attention Mr. Addy."

"Dr. Addy."

"Now, by the looks of the time your visitor should by on her way here. You have a lot of loose visiting hours because we trust you, Mr. Addy."

"Dr. Addy."

"Don't lose them and don't abuse them." and with that, the woman walks briskly out of the room without another sound beside the loud clacking of her heels on the cement floor. Zack isn't worried he hadn't heard a word the woman said. He's almost grateful. To be back in the place he once called home, even for a moment, even in a daydream. It was wonderful.

"Zack?" Angela pokes her head through the door to his room. Zack smiles as she enters. What's almost as good as being back home is seeing a familiar face. Although he's seen enough in the past few days, he would never reject the opportunity for more.

Angela hugs very much like Dr. Brennan. Tight, but warm. "How are you?"

"Alright I guess. Nothing good, nothing bad, but definitely not the same." Zack says, trying to think of anything significant and comes up short. He tries not to mention Lilac or Orian or Phoenix in front of his friends or rather, to anyone. He doesn't want admit, even to himself, that he's even acquainted with people, let alone _made friends_. Angela takes a seat where the thin lipped woman previously sat and rests her chin on her hands.

"It's so different with you gone." she says, "Everyone's different. Like, ugh, I can't even explain it. It's too sad." Zack looks down. He didn't wish to be the effect of his colleagues sadness.

"I heard one of the suspects is here. What's _he_ like?"

"I don't know him very well." Zack says, trying not to think of any encounters with anyone.

"Right, right. You just got here." Angela nods and studies Zack's dorm. It's a plain, ordinary room with a bed, a mirror, a small table, and hardly even a dresser to keep personal belongings and clothes. "Do you get out much?"

"For meals, we go to the cafeteria, some patients they let walk around and there's a library but-"

"Let me guess, you've read every book in that room since you've arrived." she raises an eyebrow and Zack slowly starts to smile.

"Does it count if I've previously read most of the books there?" Angela beams at him.

"_Of course._"

"But how is everyone back at the Jeffersonian? I assume the same. It's hardly been two weeks."

"Well apart from _insanely_ missing you," Angela's exaggeration on "insanely" only makes Zack feel worse. Obviously, his friends and colleagues aren't driven mad by his absence, but they _do_ acknowledge that he is gone and worse, it effects their feelings. Zack underestimated the relationships he held with his time working at the Jeffersonian and the feelings they had for him even though they thought of him as a nerd or a freak they _loved_ him as he loved them.

It doesn't take long to process this through his head. He takes a deep breath and mentally allows Angela to continue. Or, since it's not quite his decision to allow Angela to speak, he allows himself to accept Angela's words as she continues. "This whole divorce thing is just crap. I don't know what it's gonna take before I'm flying out to Fiji myself to talk some sense into this guy."

"Perhaps you could get him to come here. If he really loves you, he will." Zack suggests even though he has no desire to take part in Angela's love-life. Hodgins is his best friend and he knows how he feels about Angela.

"I'm not even going to waste the money. He can come down here all on his own." Angela begins to get a little angry, but calms herself by breathing deep. Pretty soon, she's smiling again. "Brennan is looking for a new assistant but I think we're pretty solid on Clark, you remember him? From after you came back from Iraq?"

Zack nods, remembering not to long ago, when they had to testify against Brennan's father and Clark pointed out something Zack missed. Zack never misses anything. He smiles, trying to hold back the sadness that they are already finding a replacement for him. "He was very intelligent." is all he can say.

"Yup! Oh let see what else...no, that should be it." They sit in silence as if they don't know what to say next, when Angela's eyes light up. "Oh! I almost forgot." She quickly pulls from her purse a box of side walk chalk. "I thought you might want to, you know, decorate." she opens the box carefully and pulls out a piece of orange chalk. Then, marching the back of the room, begins to draw on the wall.

"Are you sure we're allowed to do that?" Zack asks.

"What are they gonna do? Lock you up?" she laughs a little.

"They could revoke my visitor privileges." Zack raises an eyebrow. Angela turns around and give him a smirk.

"It washes right off! Come on, _live a little_." she tosses him a piece of blue chalk.

"I feel like I'm giving in to peer pressure." Zack admits.

"Think of it as expressing yourself. I do it all the time." Zack never knew Angela as well as Hodgins or Dr. Brennan. He knows she's an artist. That she can construct a face just by looking at the skull. Apart from that, he knows she loves Hodgins, and Hodgins loves her. Enough to get married -only to find out she's already married to a large fellow in Fiji nicknamed after some kind of flute. Angela's a free spirit. Not really caring about being like anyone else or following the rules and just doing what she wants. Zack always admired that, though he could never do something like that in his life.

The two of them sit and talk a bit. Mostly small talk as the draw. Zack draws a perfect diagram of the human skeleton labeling each bone. Only so he won't forget what it's like and to feel the same way he felt not even a month ago. Angela is writing in big blocked letters but it's hard to tell what it says yet.

"Don't you get bored?"

"Quite often."

"Any interesting people."

"This is a psych ward."

"Any cute girls?" Angela presses on. Zack makes the mistake of hesitating. Angela lifts an eyebrow and plays a smirk across her face. "Zackaroni-"

"I never said anything!"

"Which alone said a lot." she teases. Zack looks up from labeling a femur with pleading brown eyes. Begging her not to push for any questions. She takes the hint and keeps working. "Of course you label a skeleton. What's next? The periodic table of elements?"

"Well that depends. How many colors do I have?" His face gets bright.

"Six."

"Well then that's more than enough. If I want to color code the metals from the metalloids-however, not enough to group them-"

"You tight up when I talk about girls yet get all excited when I bring up the elements." she smiles. Feeling the topic creep up again, Zack looks to the side to avoid her eye contact.

Angela stands back to admire her work. "What do you think?" Zack looks up to see her completed masterpiece. In big, bold lettering, shading and all she has written: Dr. Zachary Uriah Addy; Undefeated, Uncontested, King of the Lab.


	8. A Unique Love Connection

May 27, 2008

5:30 pm

Zack is in a pleasant mood around dinner. Good enough, that even Lilac's constant attempts at a conversation and Orian's random out bursts can't spoil it. Angela's visit was almost soothing in a way that Zack feels content about his day.

As always, he has no plans on making conversation, but a stray thought he previously rejected, wanders back into his mind and won't leave until he questions it. "Where's Ben?" he asks Lilac. Lilac, a little surprised he would say anything on his own, and almost as confused at the question, slowly points to the back of the room to Ben standing tall like he always does. "Where was he this afternoon?"

This seems to clear things up for Lilac as she lets out a loud and a little over exaggerated "Oooooh!" and without warning, her energy completely changes. She leans in close to the table and yanks Zack with her by his shoulder. Orian who is seated across the table, leans in as well, as if he badly wants to know what it is. Both are more enthusiastic than Zack will ever be. "He was with a _lady friend_." Lilac whispers. Zack sits back up with a confused look on his face. He doesn't like the voice Lilac uses when she says "lady friend".

"How would you know about his-" Zack lowers his voice, "sexual relationships." Orian, a man not much younger than Zack, bursts into childish giggles.

"Haha, you said sexual."

"Just look at him, Doc, he's got it written ALL over that funny little face of his." Lilac replies.

"His face is better than yours!" Orian protests. Lilac rolls her eyes.

"I don't know what gives him the right." she says trying to be casual, but Zack detects a hint of coldness.

"The right to a relationship?"

"Of course! It almost isn't fair."

"How so?" Zack is intrigued. Little does he know he is breaking about three of the rules he set before he arrived.

"What he did with Phoenix and me."

"What did he do?"

"He put Phoenix on lock down for a week. Can't leave his dorm. All meals brought to his room. That bastard." Lilac's mood has completely changed again. "Ben's the bastard, not Phoenix." she clarifies. Zacks nods and decides to direct his focuses more on his dinner.

Today it's meatloaf and corn bread and completely tasteless. It's no different than all the food at the institute. Zack doesn't know why he thought it would be different. Lilac begins to go on about Ben and while Zack previously wanted to learn about the sudden anger towards him, his eye is caught, once again, by the shy and beautiful Claire.

Tonight, Claire sits as far back in the room as possible at an empty table where she can press her back to the wall and can't go any further. Her feet are perched up on her seat and her arms are wrapped tightly around her legs. Zack notices this as a sign of feeling unsafe. Shane, just like at lunch, goes to approach her.

Zack can't make out what Shane is saying even by looking at his lips but no matter what he says, Claire remains silent. Suddenly, Shane looks up and notices Zack's been watching them. Shane whispers something in Claire's ear and points to Zack's table. Zack panics and looks down. Within a matter of moments Claire is standing at their table, her tray shaking violently in her hand.

"Go ahead Claire." says Shane is a calming voice.

"May I sit here?" she asks. Her voice is quiet but sweet, like faint chirp of a bird.

"No. We're all full here." Lilac says, even though she, Orian and Zack are the only ones at the table. It's evident that she is still a little angry about her Ben situation. Claire begins to shake her tray again and Shane puts a gentle hand on her arm.

"Don't touch me." she whispers.

"Don't listen to her. There's plenty of room." Orian smiles and pats a seat next to him. Zack remains with his eyes down. With a little hesitation, Claire finally comfortably sits next to Orian but shields herself from the world by covering her face with her hair. Shane lets out a deep sigh as if to give up and walks off.

As many times as Zack tries to steal a glance at the dark haired beautiful Claire, she looks completely the same. So Zack begins to drift in and out of Lilac's constant ranting.

"We have to get back at him. We have to find out who he's seeing-" but before Lilac can even finish her thought, Zack's supervisor walks into the cafeteria.

However, Zack can hardly recognize her. Her hair always pulled tightly in a bun is down in long bouncy curls. Her clothing is more vibrant than the usual conforming grey and her thin lips have a coat of red lipstick that suddenly, doesn't make them so thin.

"Some questions answer themselves." Zack mutters. And he is right. The woman's stride is right in Ben's direction. Ben even smiles a little more the closer she gets. Lilac gapes at them.

"Who woulda thought?" Lilac breathes.

"The skank." Orian snorts. The three of them stare at Ben converse with the not-so-thin-lipped-anymore woman like they can't understand it. Like it's some weird interaction.

"What's going on?" Claire asks. Claire speaking is almost as big of a shock as Lilac and Zack's supervisors having a thing for each other.

"None of your beeswax." Lilac shoots. Claire, evidently, much older than Lilac cowers like a small animal and she wraps her arms around her stomach. Following this, Orian takes a handful of meatloaf and rubs it in Claire's hair. She shrieks in response making everyone turn their heads.

"Wha-"

"Oh chill out. It means he likes you." Lilac says. Her voice is hostile but with no trace of jealousy. She just doesn't like the girl.

Figuring it'd be the noble thing to do, Zack approaches Claire with a stack of napkins and attempts to help her get the meatloaf out of her hair but Claire stops him.

"I can do it on my own, thank you." she says. Her voice his hardly audible. With that, she moves two seats down from Orian. _Smart girl. _Zack thinks to himself.


	9. A Shriek in the Night

May 27, 2008

9:30 pm

"_Dark is the night above you, in my arms you sleep." _Zack sings softly to himself a lullaby he learned as a child. "_Cold is the wind around you, but safe in my arms you shall keep._" Nothing else can bring him to sleep with the loud rain thrashing against his window. He tries not to think about it to much.

Sleep has become much more difficult since he entered the mental hospital. Or even, since the night of his confession of being the apprentice to the serial cannibal, Gormogon. The scene replays over and over inside his head: sitting in a hospital room with bandages all over his hands. Everyone staring at him behind glass doors. He feels like he's in a fish bowl. Like he's some kind of monster and they're all studying him, both curious, and afraid of what he'll do next.

He is too broken hearted. He can hardly choke out the words "I'm sorry" it's all he wants to say. He would go silent for years only to go back in time and say those words.

Everything about his room causes his restlessness. The fan is loud and obnoxious and he's not allowed to turn it off without permission. The rain has gotten louder, almost banging on his window. As if begging to come through the glass. There is even a sudden boom of thunder once in a while. It's driving him crazy. Who knew a night in a mental facility would drive a sane person crazy.

Zack is too frustrated to laugh at the irony.

And then, it happens so suddenly. Like a thief in the night. It starts with Zack's fan gently fading out and then after a while, a scream. Zack is sitting up right in alarm as he hears Orian's voice from down the hall!

"HELP! HELP! SOMEONE! HE COMES TONIGHT! HE'S AFTER US! ONE DIES TONIGHT!" Zack doesn't like the sound of this he rushes to his door to see what's the matter and as he looks through his window, finds the most of the patients outside of their rooms. _Peculiar_. Zack thinks to himself. No one's allowed in or out of their room after 8pm even with their card, the system will reject it. Curious, Zack pushes down on his door latch and to his surprise, it opens.

"HE COMES TO NIGHT. DO THE WINDOWS OPEN ON THE STORMY NIGHT? HE PREYS ON HIS VICTIM TONIGHT! HE IS AFTER ME! HE IS AFTER YOU!" Orian nearly knocks Zack off his feet as he darts past him. Although it is most likely a hallucination, Zack is frightened.

"What's going on?" a girl named Georgia calls.

"The power must be out!" someone named Bernie calls.

"I can't see a damn thing!"

"Someone tell the Schizophrenic to shut up!"

"Which one?"

"The loud one!"

"Shut up Monroe!" is merely the jist of what's going on.

"THE FIFTH FLOOR THE FIFTH FLOOR! HE WALKS WITH HEAVY FEET! I CAN HERE HIM!" Orian bolts up and down the hallway. Everyone gets really quiet as the listen above them. Sure enough, there is a loud creaking from the ceiling. Some people run into their rooms. Others stay out to look brave.

Suddenly, one of the faculty comes out with arms held high. It's Willie, the receptionist. Willie is tall and authoritative. Even with a small job as a receptionist, almost everyone in the building does what she says. The girls do what she says because they all says she reminds them of evil step mothers in fairy tales. Which is hardly the case. Zack's never once heard her raise her voice. All the boys obey her because they're all in love with her. With her dark olive skin and long, dark, curly hair. And a face that Orian describes as a face of an angel. Or a "model that quit her job to be modest".

"Everyone be quiet!" She addresses. Everyone looks up at her and Orian runs to hug her. "Orian, I will give you to the count of there to get a hold of yourself. 1, 2,-" Orian lets her go quickly.

"It's him! He comes tonight." Orian whispers to her.

"Is he real?" Willie puts her hands on her hips.

"Yes." Orian says. Some people gasp. It surprises Zack how many people believe him. However, Orian could be telling the truth.

"Where is he?" Willie speaks quietly so to calm Orian down.

"On the fifth floor." he says. Willie turns back to the crowd of scared patients.

"Do not be alarmed. The fifth floor is the surveillance ward, meaning there are more supervisors up there than here." Everyone whispers among themselves. Orian bursts into tears.

"What seems to be the matter, Orian?"

"My true love is on that floor!" he sobs.

"Who? Lilac? Don't worry she's gonna be okay."

"What? No! The little girl? I'm talking about Ben!" A man appears from behind Willie. He is significantly shorter than her. A little bit of moonlight shines into the hallway and the man is identified at John Bleaman, the head of the institute.

"I think we should at least go up to check. Just in case." he offers. Willie sighs loudly.

"Alright. I'll be right back." and she disappears into darkness. Meanwhile, John begins to herd everyone back to their rooms. They all do as follows, until they hear Willie let out a blood curdling shriek from upstairs. Everyone runs to their room except for Orian, and Zack. Usually in a state like this, he would be frightened and try to stay as far from the scream as possible, but he know this type of scream. Like he's been working with it for years.

The two rush up the stairs to a door wide open. Willie is cowering in the corner. Ten feet away from her, a window is wide open and Ben is on the ground outside. To the left of the window, Lilac sits shaking, covered in blood.


	10. Michael Thomas

May 28, 2008

7:00 am

There are a bunch of different characters standing outside the morning after the death of Benjamin Oshiro. The morning is just like any morning after a storm. Wet grass, scattered leaves, and that after-rain smell. But it's not just the morning after a storm. It's the morning after a murder.

Zack can see Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth from outside his window. He sits and watches them, remembering what murder scenes were like before he got his doctorate, when he was Dr. Brennan's assistant. Dr. Saroyan kneels at Ben's body, scanning him for visible wounds. Dr. Brennan crosses her arms.

"I don't see why you need me here. I study _bones_ that is skin." she says.

"I thought you wanted to see Zack." Dr. Saroyan looks up to see Dr. Brennan frown.

"I was called because this is a murder case. I have no time for recreational-"

"Dr. Brennan. Have you seen Zack recently?"

"Yes, when we went to interview Mr. McIntyre and-"

"I'm not talking about your little run in after your stupid interview. Zack loved you and Booth. Imagine what it would have been like for him that the only reason you stopped by was to not only see someone else but convince him to help with a case while he's trying to get over the fact that he no longer works for us anymore."

"You know, I don't like it that you keep interrupting me." Dr. Brennan seems to ignore Dr. Saroyan. She pulls out a pad of paper. "When can I have access to the remains?"

"You see right here on his arm? Heavy burn marks. But at such a weird pattern. It definitely needs to be identified first. The body is fresh and no decomposing. You can do a little while without the bones." Dr. Saroyan puts her hands on her hips.

"Then may I leave now?"

"Fine." Dr. Saroyan sighs heavily.

"Uh, hey Bones?" Agent Booth calls over to her. "I'm gonna hang back. I've got a few questions to ask these people." He gestures to a short, squat, blond woman who bares a shocking resemblance to Lilac.

"Fine, I'll stay! I need to help Booth interview." She pivots on her heel to talk to the woman.

"It has to be my daughter. I _know_ she killed him." the blond woman frowns.

"Agent Booth, FBI, can I please have your name?"

"Jenna Dorsey, Mr. Booth. My daughter, Lilac, is a patient here." she nods her head. It doesn't look like she'd gotten much sleep. Maybe because she's a worried mother? Or just stressed from a day of getting through her life with her own daughter in a mental hospital. How are the two different? Or more importantly, how are they the same?

"The same Lilac Dorsey that is...er...romantically linked to Felix McIntyre?" Dr. Brennan asks.

"I hope you don't mean sexually!" Mrs. Dorsey turns purple.

"Of course not." Agent Booth shoots Dr. Brennan a glare. "What brings you to the understanding your daughter might be responsible for the death of Benjamin Oshiro?"

"Mr. Oshiro is her supervisor. If you know anything about my daughter, it's that she doesn't like to be watched and hates authority."

"It's common for teenagers to find angst and rebellion especially against authority." Dr. Brennan says.

"Yeah it's common I know. My daughter is in a mental institution for it. Tell me how that's common." Mrs. Dorsey starts to raise her voice. Agent Booth takes a step back.

"Alright, come on Bones, we're going inside."

"Wait, why?" Dr. Brennan seems startled.

"Don't ask stupid questions." Agent Booth says, confused by her reluctance to enter the mental hospital.

The two enter casually even though they don't feel so. Agent Booth is uneasy. It's the second time this week he's had to go into the mental hospital and on two different cases. Dr. Brennan is nervous. She hopes not to run into Zack again. She's been hurt more than once in two weeks. The first, by Booth who had to fake his own death to catch a criminal and didn't tell her that the funeral was staged. Next by Zack, her most trusted colleague. Two people she cared about. Nothing in the world seemed right all of a sudden. She'd masked enough in her last visit and she's at her breaking point.

Dr. Brennan doesn't know if she feels better or ten times worse when Zack appears around the corner. Zack doesn't even feel he needs to greet them.

"What's happened?" he asks.

"Benjamin Osh-"

"I know I know Ben's dead. But they don't-I mean how did it happen?"

"Well I believe you saw for yourself. He was dropped from the fifth floor."

"But-" Zack holds himself back.

"Yes Zack?"

"No. I'm not supposed to help out with the case." Zack says. However, still regretting his choice. Not the first thing he regrets.

"Well, you're a witness. So, speak now or forever hold your peace." Agent Booth states.

"No one's getting married." Zack gives him a confused look. "That was a weird reference. Considering the fact that I can speak at any moment."

"Well I hope you do so quick because we're taking your friend, Lilac-"

"She's not my friend."

"Into custody today. Once we get a blood match on her clothing." Agent Booth finishes. Dr. Brennan hasn't said anything the whole time. It's to weird seeing him this way. Of course, she saw him the day before. But she hadn't processed it through her mind. Standing before her, Zack seems so alien. So different. She's almost afraid.

"I'm sorry Dr. Brennan, is something wrong?" Zack asks.

"No nothing. Do you know where we can find Michael Thomas?" She asks, referring to a clipboard.

"I don't know anyone by the name. How is he important to the case?"

"They say he predicted Mr. Oshiro's death." Agent Booth says.

"Oh, you're probably talking about Orian. Here, he's in the cafeteria getting over himself." Zack says and indicates for them to follow. Dr. Brennan hangs back a little.

"Come on Bones, we gotta talk to this guy." Agent Booth says, tugging on her arm. Dr. Brennan bites her lip.

"Why doesn't he want to help?" she asks in a whisper.

"I don't know. Why did he kill the lobbyist? Why was he working for Gormogon? Why'd he send you a human jaw?" Agent Booth first comes off as sarcastic but as he starts to remember everything Zack's done he's never been able to understand, he begins to get serious.

"He's so different now. It's like he's a total stranger." Dr. Brennan hates admitting it and saying it out loud almost brings her to tears. But she stays strong.

"Come on," Zack calls from further down the hallway. Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan hesitate slightly before following him to the cafeteria.

Orian is sitting in the corner talking to himself. Sometimes, his voice slightly changing. He doesn't even look up when Zack approaches. He's to involved in a heated conversation with himself and an empty chair across from him.

"Keep yourself together Ori!" he says loudly. Suddenly, he bursts into tears. "I don't want to! I can't my life is nothing without Ben." He stop crying and changes character. "You have to move on. He's gone now!" and then he cries again. "Shut up, Monroe!" Zack studies how he uses different personalities to argue with himself. Dual personalities isn't always common in most schizophrenic patients. However, Orian's brain is so disorganized, it seems he copes by developing a personality for multiple parts of himself. It seems Orian is the more emotional side while Monroe is more strong. He looks to the empty chair and waits before smiling again. "You always know how to cheer me up."

Zack clears his throat and Orian looks up at him.

"Hey Doc." he sniffles.

"Orian, these are my friends and they're working on the case of Ben's death." Zack says. Orian starts to cry again.

"Orian, I need you complete cooperation. We're such gonna ask you a few questions." Dr. Brennan assures him and he settles down.

"Orian doesn't want to speak right now. He's a little heart broken. You can talk to me." Monroe says.

"But aren't you-" even the brilliant Dr. Brennan is confused.

"I'm Monroe."

"Okay we're not looking for Orian _or_ Monroe. We're looking for Michael Thomas." Agent Booth is getting frustrated, thinking Orian's playing a joke on him.

"Oh. Michael." Orian smiles to himself. "Good times." Monroe says.

"Where is he?"

"Well he's not really here." say Orian.

"Why not?"

"Because I killed him." Monroe grins devilishly.


	11. Light Sabers

May 28, 2008

8:00am

"In _his_ mind, yes, Michael is dead." Dr. Lance Sweets explains to a confused Agent Booth.

"So he thinks he killed him?"

"Well, he did in fact, kill him."

"What?"

"Look," Dr. Sweets tries to dumb it down, but really, he just likes messing with Booth. "To Michael or Orian or whoever the hell he is, Michael is just another personality. If Mr. Thomas says he 'killed' Michael it means he is no longer the person Michael was. He is a completely different personality and will never be him again."

"So Michael died _in theory_." Agent Booth furrows his brow, trying to understand.

"Yes, but no." Sweets says, purely for fun.

"Goddamn it Sweets!" Booth glares at him.

"Legally, he is Michael Thomas whether he thinks otherwise or not." Dr. Brennan interjects.

"Correct." Sweets smiles and turns to Orian. "Now, Mr. Thomas, why were you screaming last night?" Orian takes a deep breath.

"I've been getting these hallucinations. There is a man who walks up and down the hallway." Orian is different now. Zack swears he's never seen him like this. Orian's mind is completely on one thing.

"Does he look distinct?" Orian shakes his head.

"No. He's always different. He always looks at me and points at me with his..."

"With what."

"No. It's crazy."

"Michael, I need you to listen to me. It's possible these might not be hallucinations at all. This could be a real killer." Sweets uses a calming tone despite his tense body language which is only out of a little frustration that Orian won't give a straight answer.

"Michael..." Orian goes into a daze.

"Mr. Thomas, I need your full cooperation."

"Look, I just know he isn't real."

"Why not?" Dr. Sweets begins to get impatient. It's not like him to get this way. He usually bares a calm and careless energy.

"The man was carrying a light saber!" Orian exclaims. Everyone gets real quiet, out of pure bewilderment.

"A light saber...like from Star Wars?" Agent Booth asks. Orian nods his head quickly and seriously.

"So what color was it?" Sweets asks. Booth rolls his eyes.

"This guy's obviously not gonna be much help to us! You know what's tough about this case? We're dealing with people who are mentally unstable."

"Booth, you're being very inappropriate. At least have some sensitivity about it." Dr. Brennan interjects.

"Hey, I agree. I told you it wasn't real. And with all due respect, ma'am," he turns to Dr. Brennan. "We know very well we are crazy."

"I didn't say _crazy_." is all Agent Booth can reply to before Willie comes through the door. Her eyes are bloodshot, probably from crying and her hair is a wild mess. She hasn't changed her clothes since the day before and her makeup is smudged.

"Are you the people investigating this case?" she asks Sweets, Brennan, and Booth. The three of them nod in unison. Zack begins to nod at first, thinking he's one of them, but he catches himself quickly, blushing.

"And you are?" Agent Booth asks.

"Wilma James. I'm head of reception." she sticks out a hand for the three of them to shake.

"We have a warrant if that's what you're asking for." Booth says. Willie shakes her head.

"I just came over to inform you that John will not allow you to take patients off the primacies. All interrogation must be done here."

"That's gonna be a problem." Sweets mutters to himself. Although, thinking out loud is practically pointless as everyone is thinking the same thing. Willie now turns to Zack.

"Mr. Addy."

"Dr. Addy." Zack corrects, surprised to find Dr. Brennan do so as well almost at the same time.

"Right." Willie breaths. "Are you needed for their interrogation?"

"Well...no I-"

"Then please, I would like you to remain in your room. We're trying to get everyone in lockdown mode until this whole thing is situated.

"You as well Mr. Thomas."

"Michael..." Orian is in a daze again. Silently, the two walk to their rooms. Zack hardly looks over his shoulder as his old friends get smaller and smaller and disappear as he turns a corner.

Zack's room isn't as welcoming as he'd anticipated it be. Even with his model skeleton, his work-in-progress Periodic Table of Elements chart and Angela's sign (which have still remained unseen as the thin lipped woman hadn't visited since the day Angela came) Zack still felt like he was abandoned, alone, and in a strange place he doesn't like to be in. Not even labeling Calcium through Krypton sounds as fun as he thought it would be. There's nothing like a fresh murder to make you feel like crap in the morning.

It's not long beore there is a knock on the door. Tired, depressed, and confused, Zack rolls out of bed and goes to check who could possibly want to see him. However, instead of seeing a supervisor or an Agent -whom he more likely expected to see- he stands opposite a tall boy of about eighteen with dark hair. He has a master key card. The kind only supervisors are permitted to have. He invites himself in.


	12. Impulse

May 28, 2008

8:30 am

The two boys stare at each other a moment. Almost trying to read each others minds.

"I hope you didn't kill Ben." Zack tells Phoenix as he closes the door behind him.

"What the hell makes you say that?" Phoenix is outraged.

"Look at the facts. They all point to you. You were confined to your room. _Because of Ben_. You were forced to spend days away from your fiance. _Because of Ben_. You can't even kiss her. _Because of Ben_."

"Okay. So I had a motive. How could I have done it? I'm on lock down remember?"

"How'd you get into my room. I assume they don't just hand out master passes at the door do they?" the key pass looks very familiar. He doesn't know if they are all the same or if some are more unique than others.

"You don't understand." But he understands very much. Suddenly, Zack doesn't want to be there anymore. Here he stands, acting like Booth, wishing he was in the lab. If only he hadn't- his mind scatters. But he can't think of other things right now. No where he is safe. He stands in the room with a murderer.

"You killed your own step father."

"Alright just shut up for a second!" his eyes wander around the room as he searches for the right words. He sits himself down at the table and calms himself. After a moment, he speaks. "I may not be a genius like you, but I'm not a dumbass. Do you think I would've gone and killed Ben if I'd be punished? Think about it? If I killed Ben, then they have to move me to a more confined place. I won't be allowed out at all. That would be the opposite what I would've intended." Zack tries to not say much. Just listen. Pheonix shows no sign of finishing. "I stayed there in my room because I knew that soon, it will be over. If I play it nice, I can marry her." Zack tries not to mention that Lilac isn't of legal age yet, but instead he tries to help.

"Look, I used to work with these guys and they might not be quick to jump to conclusions but, unfortunately, everything points to you. If not you, Lilac."

"I know she didn't do it either! We've been trying to follow the rules for weeks now." Zack looks up as Phoenix speaks. His eyes reflect doubt, a glint of a passion, and a great deal of worry. He can't help but feel bad for the poor boy. Lost in the confusion of adolescence and the angst of rebellion. And first love.

Zack can't help it. An impulses rushes up. Words spill like vomit.

"I want to help." he says faster than he can think it through, and Zack is generally one to think faster than average. Phoenix looks at him, puzzled.

"I don't understand." he begins but Zack is already sliding his trusty box of chalk from under his bed.

"You don't have to! I know Lilac didn't do it. And you probably have a good chance at innocence as well..." Zack carefully chooses an empty spot on his wall beside his Periodic Table of Elements and underneath Angela's sign. He begins drawing out different areas and labeling each. One with "EVIDENCE" separating it with "PARTICULATES" and "XRAYS", one with "CRIME SCENE" and drawing a rough outline of a map and one with "SUSPECTS" and separating it with "MOTIVES" and "ALIBIS".

"Wait innocence? How did you get from yelling at me to you going all Bill Nye?" Zack stops.

"Who?"

"You know, the science guy...?"

"I'm unfamiliar with his work." But Zack isn't thinking about that. He's trying to recall his past thought process. But as far as he can trace it back, all he remembers is acting on impulse. He's been getting into a habit of it lately, and he doesn't like it at all. The disorder and irrationality of acting on impulse can lead to consequences. He looks up at his wall with large brown eyes. What is he doing? He looks back to a very confused Phoenix.

"What?" Phoenix asks.

"Nothing. Nothing. I need you to write me a report of everything you know on Ben and tell me how I can get a hold of Lilac while she's...well." Zack pushes everything about not wanting to help to the back of his mind. Why shouldn't he help? This is what he's loved to do is whole life.

"But, Mr.-"

"Dr." Zack scolds.

"Dr. Zack," Phoenx says. Zack rolls his eyes at the boy not even calling him by his name, properly. "You still haven't answered my question. What's with the sudden change? You just told me yourself it all points to me!" Zack shakes his head quickly with a smirk.

"Not all of it. There's so much more!" he rushes to another side of the wall and creates a list of notes. Basic things to know about forensic anthropology-just so he won't forget. Because now, he has a reason not to.

"What do you mean?" There is a bit of hope and Phoenix voice now, there is doubt, too, but that hardly registers with Zack. His hands glide quickly across the board as he writes. Both eager, and a little nervous. He whips around to answer.

"This is what I used to do for a living! There is so much more to the story and we're going to figure it out."

"So why'd you change your mind?"

"That's not relevant anymore." Zack answers very quickly while turning back to his work. Phoenix is silent for a moment. Mainly because he's trying to remember what "relevant" means. But instead of arguing, he backs out of the room.

"So, I'm gonna sneak Lilac out of her room okay?"

"Excellent." Zack doesn't even look up but jumps a bit when Phoenix closes the door behind him. Zack slows as he sits alone. He dares not _rethink _things. He's already gone to deep and it hasn't been five minutes. It's now or never and he has the faith.


	13. Candace Clark

May 28, 2008

11:43 am

Agent Booth and his partner, Dr. Brennan arrive at a large apartment building in northern Virginia. Dr. Brennan knocks once, but there is no answer. She knocks again.

"This is the FBI, please open the door." Agent Booth calls several people down the hall open their doors. "No, I mean this one. Room 722. Open up or-"

"Or he'll kick down the door." Dr. Brennan interrupts.

"_Bones_, I don't want to kick it down. My leg still hurts from last time," he says. Before Dr. Brennan can speak, the door opens to a reveal a thin lipped woman with wild hair and bloodshot eyes. She sniffles as she leans against the door, like it hurts to stand.

"Candace Clark?" Agent Booth asks her.

"I am she."

"FBI Agent Seeley Booth, I'm here to ask you a few questions about Benjamin Oshiro." Candace breaks down crying and Booth and Brennan give each other uneasy looks. After a few moments, Booth finally decides it's appropriate to ask, "May I come in?"

"Of course, Agent Booth," Candace says and then turns to Dr. Brennan, "and you are his girlfriend?"

"No." Booth and Brennan say quickly in unison. Candace nods.

"Who needs love right?" She doesn't even care if Dr. Brennan is an FBI agent or not. She lets them both in and continues to weep.

Her house is a complete wreck. Clothes askew across the floor. Books on every table. All the lights are off but a faint glow from her television across the room that is paused in the middle of _The Titanic_. Candace tries to toss a few things out of the way to make room for her two guests to sit but it doesn't make things better. Booth stands as Dr. Brennan awkwardly adjusts herself between a stack of romantic comedies and a large pile of clothes.

"Ms. Clark." Booth begins.

"Have you found who killed Ben? Oh who is it? I hope the sorry bastard rots in hell." he sobs more into a stained pillow. Booth and Brennan are unsure what to do in the situation. Obviously, they've done this many times before, interviewing people who have just recently lost a loved one. However, the woman before them, seems both emotionally and_ mentally_ unstable.

"We have been," Dr. Brennan takes a deep breath before finishing. There's something that smells strongly of cherries. She coughs a bit. "investigating all we can ma'am, however we lack necessary information needed to even start a list of suspects."

"Did Ben have any enemies?" Booth asks. Candace stops crying and looks upward.

"Th-th-there was Lilac Dorsey, the girl he was supervising. He kept her as far away from her boyfriend as possible and she rebelled. Lilac is a patient that needs to be under surveillance every day because of her behavior." Candace scowls as she mentions Lilac's name.

"What about Lilac's boyfriend? Did he have a problem with Ben?" Booth asks, jotting down a couple of notes. Candace's eyes get very big.

"They fought often, yes. Oh what was his name?"

"That would be the McIntyre boy. Remember Booth? We had to talk to Lilac the other day..." Brennan points out.

"McIntyre again? Dammit, when is that kid gonna learn?"

"How long were you and Mr. Oshiro together?" Dr. Brennan asks. Candace looks up and wipes a tear away.

"Almost two months. He had so much a head of him." that definitely does it. In come the water works.

"And how did you meet?" Booth gives Brennan a glare that says _I ask the questions around here. _This is very true, Brennan hasn't even seen the bones yet.

"Well, I work as a supervisor in the mental ward. My latest patient Zack is-" Dr. Brennan stops her.

"We know everything from here." Candace nods and Agent Booth begins to move.

"I just got a text from Cam. She says you get the bones." Agent Booth says with a smile. Dr. Brennan is noticeably happy while Ms. Clark bares a confused look on her face. "We will be back for further questions."

"Oh of course, anything to catch whatever horrid person would do something like killl...kill-" she buries her head into a pillow as Booth and Brennan slip out the door.

"Okay. I have a confession." Booth admits as he starts the car.

"What?" Dr. Brennan is a little to preoccupied with her sudden permission to inspect Ben's bones. A five story fall victim is quite challenging. It will take her a few hours to differentiate post mortem fractures from fatal injuries as well as time and cause of death and if the victim was dead before he was dropped out the window. She's excited for a challenge. Apart from the Peter Greene murder, it's been a slow week.

"I lied about the bones thing." This brings Brennan's spirits down. She frowns.

"Why did you think it would be reasonable to lie to me? Why did you distract me from interviewing a suspect?" she asks, mainly disappointed instead of angry at the trust she was losing from Booth. But she trusts him to much for it to be a problem.

"I wanted to get you out before you go on about Zack." Booth sighs.

"How do you know what I planned to say? As far as I'm concerned you can't read my mind." Booth gives a loud sigh.

"I know you to well, Bones. You were getting that look on your face."

"What look?" Dr. Brennan protests. Unable to describe it exactly, Agent Booth changes the subject, only making Brennan more agitated.

"I didn't like her."

"Well, she's a part of this case. Whether you like her a lot. And I've noticed, you don't like a lot of people we interview." Brennan says.

"Ya, but her house, her attitude. She's so-"

"Unstable. I agree. For a supervisor at a mental ward, she doesn't seem as balanced as you'd think she'd be." Brennan says aloud her previous mental notes.

"I'll set up an appointment with Sweets." Booth says.

"I feel a little sorry for Zack." Brennan mentions. It gets awkward for a little bit. Neither wanted to bring up or talk about Zack. Dr. Brennan even mentioning him makes the conversation tight. It's short sentences and one syllable responses all the way back to the lab.


	14. Phoenix's List

May 28, 2008

12:15 pm

Today at lunch, Zack sits alone. Phoenix and Lilac are currently on lock down and Orian has been taken in for questioning. Zack picks at his food. Lilac was right, it's disgusting but he doesn't have much time to think about it. His mind wanders quickly through his big decision this morning. He thinks of what will happen if he does find the true murderer. Lilac's name is cleared and she can marry Phoenix. Everyone on the fifth floor can rest easy. And maybe, he might be able to-no, he tries not to get his hopes up. Maybe is not an option. It's up to him to deal with the plausible and not a silly fantasy.

He also thinks of what would happen if he doesn't. Lilac would be shipped off to Eranda-the mental institute for patients that are too crazy to be here. Phoenix will never marry her and Zack will be left with the sickening feeling of defeat. He is to wrapped up in his own thoughts, that he doesn't notice Shane and Claire approach him.

"Claire, say hello." he says, getting Zack's attention. Claire hardly twitches her fingers to show a _hello_. "Claire." Shane says sternly. Claire remains silent. Shane sighs and turns to Zack. "You're Zack right?" he asks him.

"That is correct."

"Do you mind if Claire sits here? I just don't want her to be alone." he says. Claire mumbles something and he asks her to speak up. Claire refuses. A little more roughly than rational, Shane puts Claire's tray on the cafeteria table and gently puts a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't touch me." Claire glares at him as he disappears. Hesitating a little, she sits down across from Zack. Zack doesn't mind Claire's presence. To be frank, he's more preoccupied with the case. However, he can't help but watch her out of the corner of his eye. He notices how sometimes she will stop eating, open her mouth, and then close it quickly as if she is fighting with herself whether to speak or not. He knows she has the capability to speak. But maybe not the will? What could she possibly be afraid of? Maybe if he were to ask her. He starts to over think it which, leads to distracting him from what he was previously thinking of. In the end, he decides to test whether she wants to speak or not.

"Hello." he looks right at her. She freezes.

"Hello." her voice is so quiet he can hardly tell what she's saying. So he presses on. Feeling a little bit like he's acting more like Lilac than himself. He completely forgets he was in the same situation as Claire not three days ago.

"And your name is Claire?" he asks. Claire nods, which isn't exactly the kind of response he wanted. "Well my name is Zack. I'm kind of new here."

"I've been here six months." Claire bites her lip and winces like Zack's going to attack her. Neither of them notice Shane watching from a distance with a faint grin.

"Is it nice? In your opinion." Zack asks. Claire avoids looking him in the eyes and plays with her bread roll, ripping it into tiny pieces.

"I guess." She lets her hair fall in her face again. As it drapes into her eyes, Zack feels as if a big door is closing. It's disappointing to watch her completely disconnect from the entire world from behind long dark locks and also a bit depressing.

Suddenly, someone in a hoodie approaches Zack and taps him sharply on the shoulder. A closer look at the Stranger's face and Zack learns he is Phoenix.

"What are you doing here?" Zack asks as Phoenix takes a seat beside him, stealing his apple.

"I got a key remember?" he bites into the apple in the most loud and obnoxious way possible. Even Claire twitches.

"Yes, I was going to ask you about that-"

"You know what, dude? It's NOT important right now." Phoenix advises and pulls out a sheet of paper, on it, a short bulleted list.

"What's this?" Zack asks. The list looks like it's been done in crayon.

"You said write up everything I know about Ben," he taps the paper, "here you go, Doc." Zack suddenly realizes he's acquired a nickname. He doesn't know why he hadn't caught it sooner. He has trouble remembering when Lilac, Phoenix, or Orian have actually called him "Zack". Not that "Doc" is a bad nickname. It emphasizes that he wants people to remember he has two doctorates. But a nickname means he has a place among these people. A place far from acquaintance. He shakes his head, forgetting the whole thing and focuses more on Phoenix's list.

"Alright, how about we clarify a few things." Zack says to Phoenix. "First off, you spelled _supervisor_ wrong. That's actually an _S _and not a _Z_. And I know, you and Lilac are supposedly engaged, but her last name is still Dorsey, not McIntyre." Phoenix kind of scoffs but Zack continues. "Large muscles is more of an observation and information that's not really vital to the case. I know what he looks like, I have met him. Do you have a pen?"

"Wait don't cross it out! I worked hard on this list. I don't want you defacing it!" Phoenix protests. Zack ignores him because at that moment, Claire speaks up.

"I do." she speaks softly as she removes a pen from her pocket.

"Thank you." Zack smiles. He finds it's like walking on eggshells while talking to Claire. You have to be gentle about what you say or she'll think she's offended you.

"We're not supposed to have pens or anything on us. All writing stuff should be kept in the art room." Phoenix glares at her. Zack stares at Claire, expecting her to shut down again. Instead she opens her mouth, but closes it quickly again.

"No, say what you were going to say." Zack says kindly. He can't say he hasn't been in a situation when he felt unsure about saying something. Unsure of what people would think.

"I was just going to..." she pauses. Zack isn't sure whether it's out of fear or trying to find the right words. "I mean, well, we aren't supposed to be carrying supervisors' keys around with us." Phoenix looks genuinely agitated from her comeback and Claire smiles to herself, proud of saying something.

"I don't need to tell you anything." Zack notices tension and tries to keep peace.

"How about we stop accusing each other and stop being hypocrites and admit that we all have flaws. So we've all done something against the rules. We're already in a mental hospital what's the worst they could do?"

"Send us to Eranda." Phoenix states. Claire falls back behind her safety walls of hair as if in fear of the name.

"Yes, and we are avoiding that." Zack says, testing Claire's pen on the paper and crossing out "has large muscles".

"Hey! No crossing that out!" Phoenix says.

"Do you want me to help you clear your name or not?" Phoenix gets really quiet. Taking that as a sign to carry on, Zack continues. "Now, right here where it says 'likes to eat peanut butter and jelly', that has no significant relevance to the case. Therefore, shouldn't be on this list."

"It was worth a try." Phoenix mumbles.

"Okay. This next one just says 'Chinese'."

"Yup." Phoenix smiles. "And?"

"Well, his last name, _Oshiro_, is actually of Japanese origin, which corresponds with his facial-"

"Dammit. What do I get credit for?" Phoenix throws his arms in the air angrily.

"What does this say at the bottom?" Zack asks, trying to decipher a very curious combinations of squiggles.

"That says Jerry the night guard. They hated each other. Fought all the time because Jerry would smoke outside everyday and Ben was convinced he'd let Lilac have a smoke. She was really just trying to nick his lighter for me for my birthday but-"

"Oh my gosh." Zack says loudly startling both Claire and Phoenix.

"What?" Phoenix asks.

"That, my friend, is what we call a motive."


	15. Back at the Lab

May 28, 2008

3:45 pm

"What I'm thinking is, she was calm and together and than after maybe an event or something that changed her life, might also have changed the way her brain organizes things." Sweets blabs on as Dr. Brennan waits outside Dr. Saroyan's office, anxiously taping her foot, and hardly listening to what Sweets is saying.

"Perhaps it's the death of Mr. Oshiro, _or_, it could be a family matter maybe she found out she's sick."

"Are you going to meet with her or not?" Dr. Brennan asks, getting a little annoyed.

"Oh yes," Sweets beams. "I would not pass up an opportunity with such an interesting character. To think, _she's_ the sane one in that mental facility. Oh I'm exited."

"Okay that sounded really creepy." Angela says appearing from around the corner. Sweets rolls his eyes.

"You don't understand, Ben's former 'lover', she's like. Wow. I would love to know how her brain works."

"How about you just stop talking." Angela points a hand up to stop Sweets.

"You guys don't understand." He says with a frown and pulls out his day planner. "I'm gonna fit Ms. Clark in for tomorrow at seven alright please call her to verify." he addresses Dr. Brennan.

"Wait, Ms. Clark as in _Zack's_ supervisor?" Angela asks like she can't believe it. Dr. Brennan nods.

"Yes and I don't understand how Zack has anything to do with it."

"It...doesn't. It's just that, I've met her, she's so tight." Angela says.

"Define tight." Dr. Sweets raises an eyebrow.

"Like ship shape and spiffy. You know? Ugh ask Hodgins she was such a crab to him when he came in to visit Zack."

"Interesting..." Sweets looks upwards in thought. Angela rolls her eyes.

"Why am I always creeped out when you make that face? Wait, why are you even here?" Angela asks.

"I was talking to Dr. Brennan about Ms. Clark. Remember Dr. Brennan?" he turns to face Brennan who's look is distant and off in space.

"Earth to Brennan." Angela waves her hand in her face and Dr. Brennan retracts her head in confusion.

"What are you doing?"

"Honey, are you alright?" Angela asks, feeling a bit worried for her best friend's off behavior.

"Of course, what shows that I wouldn't be?"

"It's because Zack's in this case isn't it?"

"For the last time, Zack isn't in this case. He's just Ms. Clark's patient at the mental hospital and Ms. Clark is part of this case." Brennan says. Dr. Sweets just stares at her, as if trying to read her mind.

"You're distracted." he guesses.

"I am not! I am completely focused." Dr. Brennan protests. She checks her watch again and knocks on the glass door to Dr. Saroyan's office.

"Not yet!" Dr. Saroyan calls back. Dr. Brennan groans and leans her head back against the wall. The three of them stand in silence before Brennan speaks.

"It's not because Zack's a part of this case because he wants nothing to do with it and we are doing perfectly fine with out him."

"Of course." quizzes Dr. Sweets. This merely angers her.

"I am correct. We have to face the facts that he is no longer with us anymore. Someone get me Mr. Edison. Where is he?" Angela rolls her eyes and turns to walk away when she is confronted face to face with Hodgins.

"Hey babe, I was going through the clothes and found something interesting in Mr. Oshiro's coat pocket. It's all wet and rained on, do you think you can decipher it?" he asks her, as one of Angela's many talents besides facial reconstruction, is recovery of ruined papers, hard drives, and any deciphering of hand writing.

"I'm doing fine thanks for asking." She takes a plastic back with a wadded paper towel in it with some slight coldness.

"I'm sorry, how is your day." Hodgins asks feeling a little worried. Angela groans.

"I don't want to talk about it." and she storms off leaving Hodgins in her dust with a very confused look on his face.

"_Women_." He says to himself as he approaches Sweets and Brennan.

"Anything to report, Dr. Hodgins?" Brennan asks. He sighs and shakes his head. "Well we matched Oshiro's blood to the blood on Ms. Dorsey."

"So we can arrest her." Dr. Brennan assumes.

"Well, yes and no." Dr. Hodgins says right as Dr. Saroyan steps out of her office.

"We also traces of Dorsey's _own_ blood on both her clothes and his." She adds without skipping a beat.

"So either they both were in a bloody fight," Dr. Sweets guesses.

"Or they were both attacked." Brennan gasps.


	16. Drawings in the Book

May 28, 2008

4:30 pm

"Ask me what color shirt you're wearing." Orian commands Zack as they walk quietly in the library. They are the only ones as most of the patients have begun to fear Orian/Monroe and his so-called "prophecies".

"But you know what color shirt I am wearing." Zack says, confused. He pulls out a book on dust particulates that makes him think of Hodgins.

"No I don't." Orian argues with a smile. He crosses his arms, testing Zack.

"Yes, you do. You and I are wearing the same shirt. They're standard issued."

"They are not the same shirt." Orian advises seriously. Zack turns a corner, deciding to look for a book on Schizophrenia. It will be sad if there isn't a book on Schizophrenia -in a mental hospital.

"They are the same. Made by the same manufacturer. Same cloth. Sixty percent cotton, forty percent polyester. Both-"

"But they're not the same color." Orian grins. Zack wants to protest but a book on skin burns catches his eye. Thinking of his own hands rather than the multiple burns found on Ben's body, he takes the book too.

"Yes they are." Zack finally says as he struggles to carry his books to a table.

"No they aren't!" Orian giggles. A little frustrated, Zack shoves a book to Orian who reacts making an "oomf" sound.

"I need you to find what you saw in hallucination in this book." Zack advises him, turning to his own heap of books. The two sit at a table surrounded by towering shelves. Orian reads the title of his book aloud.

"_Symbolisms of the Subconscious._" he stops to look up at Zack. "But this book's for normal people."

"I have a hunch. If the murderer _is_ among us, you might have known it and it might have made itself some how into your psyche that is more expressed in your subconscious." Zack explains.

"No, I'm just crazy." Orian slides the book across the table to Zack and Zack slides it back.

"Please. Don't you want to clear Phoenix's name?" Orian lays his head on the table at stretches his arms at something that isn't there.

"No."

"Lilac?"

"How about they marry in jail?" Orian suggests.

"I don't think that's how they do it. Don't you want to find out who killed Ben?" Orian's lip quivers.

"It wasn't them." Orian whispers. "I know it wasn't!"

"I know it wasn't them either! And I need your help or we will never know!" Of course this is lie. Zack knows very well that if he doesn't figure this thing out, Booth, Brennan, and his old friends at the Jeffersonian will. And what will his use be? He wants to prove himself. Prove to his friends that he hasn't changed. Prove to his family he isn't insane. The thought of his family is like a smack in the face, with wet rubber gloves, on a frozen day.

The hardest thing Zack's had to do this entire week is not think of his family who were both horrified and devastated at the news. He hasn't come into contact with any of his 7 brothers and sisters since the accident. Even his own parents refuse to answer his calls. He buries his head in one of his books to keep from the thought creeping up again.

"Ask me, I dare you." Orian says after a while of reading.

"Orian, what did you find in that book?" Zack asks a little afraid as to what he might say.

"Not that. I've hardly been reading at all." Orian swats his hand away like it's not that big of a deal. Zack begins to question how much Orian cares about his friends. Or which part of Orian cares for them and which is to involved in guessing the color of his shirt.

"Can you read?" Zack wonders allowed.

"Of course I can read." Orian's tone is insulted.

"Please excuse me, just wondering." Zack says. Orian ignores him.

"So are you gonna ask me?"

"What color his my shirt?" Zack asks with an eye roll. Orian stares intensely at him.

"Blue."

"No it's not." Zack says, confused. "My shirt is the same color as your shirt."

"Can't be. My shirt's green."

"They're both white."

"What's white?"

Zack is about to lecture him about how light enters the eye and what the color white actually is when he spots something very odd. There is an uncapped pen besides Orian's book and Orian's hands are covered in ink. "Give me that book." he orders. A very confused Orian slowly pushes the book across the table. Surprised at his own shaking hands, Zack opens the book and nearly jumps out of his seat.

He can hardly read anything each page is covered in thick black lines and obscure drawings.

"Did you do all this?" Zack asks with a squeak in his voice. Orian nods very seriously. Doing the best he can to see, Zack quickly flips to the page that says _strangers_ and it is completely covered with the drawing of three people with their faces scratched out. One is obviously a man. Quite large and burly. The other two are definitely drawn as women. But there is something about these women that makes Zack curious. One is drawn with light strokes and a curved face. The other is drawn with dark, heavy lines and a pointed face. It seemed as though Orian likedone, and didn't the other. "Orian, who are these people?" Zack asks, unaware Orian _still_ hasn't answered his previous question.

"You think I know?"

"You drew them, didn't you?" the two are arguing with questions both trying to be the dominate of the conversation. Zack knows very well he's better than this to fight a silly argument and but becomes frustrated that by doing this, the conversation will go nowhere. "I just need to know why you drew these people."

"I don't know." Orian shrugs, "Hey, when's lunch?"

"It's almost five. You already had lunch."

"But lunch is like this infinite thing. Like, it's on a cycle. I haven't missed lunch entirely."

"Lunch is in nineteen and a half hours." Zack tells him and takes a deep breath. "Who are these people?"

"Well," Orian studies the page like he really doesn't know who the people in the drawing and is aiming for a wild guess. "this one looks a lot like Ben. His structure is identical."

"Good. That's good!" Zack gets a little excited. "What about her?" he points to the lightly drawn woman with the soft face.

"The drawing is light. So I must have soft feelings for this person." Orian says seriously, mentally quizzing himself.

"Could it be Lilac?" Zack suggests. Orian shakes his head.

"No. She's too short. Notice the drawing's taller than Ben."

"Willie?"

"Yeah, I think so. Don't worry. She's good." Orian says.

"The real question is, why did you draw her?" Zack asks, but Orian simply shrugs. Next, they examine the last woman on the page. And before Zack can ask anything, Orian discovers her identity.

"There is only one woman here that looks like this." Zack sits up straighter as Orian speaks.

"Who is she?"

"Her name is Selena Spencer. Ben used to be her supervisor...before-"

"Before what?" Zack asks, practically at the edge of his seat. Another suspect that the FBI hasn't even thought of yet!

"She originally checked in when she was younger with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. You know, like, in love with herself. But the therapists and doctors found she was reacting to therapy unusually. As she got older, she became more aggressive to be the center of attention and starting acting...weird. By the time she was eighteen, she was diagnosed with Histrionic Personality Disorder and was moved to the confinement level on the sixth floor. She and Ben were close and when she had to leave, Ben never saw her again. Slowly and surely she began to hate him."

"We need to meet with her." Zack says, excited. He can't wait until the next he sees Phoenix to get his key. The whole thing seems dangerous and exciting and-

"Did you hear me? _Histrionic Personality Disorder_. No way you should ever be alone in a room with her."

"What are you talking about?" Zack asks.

"Tell me Zachary," Orian looks up behind choppy locks of blond hair more serious than ever before. "Do you consider your self...good looking?"


	17. The Island

May 29, 2008

3:43 am

Zack waits nervously by his door watching his clock. Phoenix is supposed to be knocking at his door by three forty-five to stop by Selena's room. He assured Zack at dinner Selena is an insomniac and will be expecting them in the early hours of the morning so not to be caught. This makes Zack feel uneasy. From the stories Orian's been telling him, Selena isn't someone one wants to be alone with. Especially this late at night. Luckily for Zack, tonight, he will be accompanied by Orian and Phoenix.

Zack is tired. Even with his obnoxious fan, he drifts off into a gentle sleep.

_Zack is now sitting on an island. The sun is warm on his skin and the breeze smells like sea salt and tropical flowers. Zack sits up to take in the scene and is surprised to see Dr. Brennan resting on a towel a few feet away from him. He dares not wake her, but Zack badly wishes to know where he is. His hand is just inches from her shoulder when Zack heres a call. _

_ "Hey Bones! You have to come out here! The water is amazing!" Agent Booth is standing in knee deep water, waving his arms. Deciding not to disturb Dr. Brennan, Zack gets up to question Booth. _

_ "Where are we?" He asks. _

_ "Come on Zack, you're the genius. You tell me." Booth says with a smile. Zack on the other hand, frowns. Booth has never been this friendly. More shapes form and Angela and Hodgins appear coming from the woods. Angela is in a long white sundress and Hodgins his tucking a flower behind her ear._

_ A wave crashes at Booth and Zacks knees and soak their pants. Booth gives Zack a strong pat on the back. _

_ "Look at us all. We're such a family." he says with a smile, only confusing Zack even more. _

_ Dr. Saroyan comes running to them. "Don't you guys just love it here? I could live here forever." _

_ "Where are we exactly, Dr. Saroyan?" Zack asks, hoping she would have an answer. _

_ "PLEASE. It's Camille!" She says before disappearing under water. At this moment, Dr. Brennan is waking from her nap. She approaches Zack and Booth with a warm hug. _

_ "A day in paradise." She breathes deeply to inhale the island. Take it all in. She turns to Booth. "Shall we dance?" she asks him. He looks a bit uneasy at first, but agrees. As the two dance, to the sounds of the forest, keeping in perfect time, Zack wanders back to the beach. The clouds start to grey and the smell of smoke begins to linger. _

_ A shadow lurks in the forest, beckoning to Zack. He looks back to his friends who look carefree despite the darkening sky. Zack feels like the stranger is pulling at him. So he goes to investigate it's identity. _

_ The stranger is dressed in black, he's wearing a name tag but it's blank. _

_ "You are weak, Addy." the stranger says, without moving his lips. _

_ "Am not!" Zack argues. "Intellectually, I am superior to most larger than me." _

_ "That's why I like you Zack." The stranger chuckles and Zack begins to feel uneasy. _

_ "What do you want?" _

_ "I want you to help me." the stranger says. _

_ "Help you with what?" but the stranger doesn't answer his question. _

_ "I am strong. However, very much like you." _

_ "You are?" _

_ "Of course. But I am stronger, do you know how I got this way?" Zack begins to get intrigued. _

_ "How?" he asks. The stranger pulls Zack close to him and whispers something in his ear. The strangers hands are sharp and Zack finds trouble paying attention. His arm begins to bleed. _

_ Suddenly, there is a disturbance in the music of the forest. A loud thunder like sound. Oozing from the darkness of the forest, a red liquid burning everything in it's path. The stranger smiles and disappears. _

_ Worried Zack bolts back to the beach to warn his friends who are caught somewhat in a trance. Booth and Brennan are dancing in the sand and the lava is heading straight for them. _

_ "Dr. Brennan!" Zack calls. She barelly lifts her head. "AGENT BOOTH!" He calls louder. The two stop dancing, but they don't seem to notice Zack or the lava. He rushes over to them, trying to push them towards the water. "You need to get in the water! You need to start swimming!" Once in the water, Dr. Saroyan appears with a boat and they climb in. _

_ Next, Zack goes to find Angela and Hodgins who are sitting and smiling by a camp fire, singing drunkenly. Angela notices Zack's frantic waving and makes a run for the ocean but Hodgins falls asleep. _

_ "Hodgins! I need you to wake up!" Zack says angrily trying to shake his best friend. _

_ "Why should I listen to you?" Hodgins replies with his eyes still shut. _

_ "Because, you need to trust me, your life is in danger." _

_ "Why should I trust you after what you've done?" Hodgins grumbles. Zack freezes at these words. Direct hit to his core. _

_ "I'm sorry, I didn't-" his ears start ringing and his head starts spinning he feels sick. He wants to just pass out but he knows what's coming. And he knows if he gives up now it will be the end for him and Hodgins. Adrenaline kicks in and Zack finds the strength to at least drag Hodgins through the sand. Once Hodgins is able to stand, the two break into a run. It looks like they can make it just in time when Zack trips. He scrambles to his feet but it's too late. He can feel his hands begin to burn. _

Zack wakes clenching his fists. There is someone in his room.

"You awake, Doc?" Phoenix asks him. Zack blinks.

"Yeah, I believe so. What time is it?"

"Four-fifteen. I know I'm late, but I ran into someone in the hallway." Phoenix looks nervous.

"Who?" Zack asks worried someone knows about their sneaking out in the middle of the night.

"Just Lilac. She didn't like the idea of me visiting Selena without her so she's come along too. She's waiting outside with Orian."

"You met her in the hallway?"

"She's got Ben's spare master key and no new supervisor." Phoenix says.

"The security system in this building is not as strong as I thought." Zack says.

"Nah, we're just awesome." Phoenix winks. And leads him out the door to be greeted by Lilac and Orian.

The walk to the sixth floor is mostly silent. Mainly not to wake anyone or be caught by Jerry, the night guard, but also because of them are in deep thought. Unsure of what to expect, worried they might get caught. Worried Selena will be of no help and a waste of time. What if she didn't do anything? To be honest, anyone in the entire mental facility could have done it because of the strange power outage.

"Wait." Zack whispers.

"What?" Lilac asks, kind of ticked off.

"Why did all our doors open on the night of Ben's death." Zack asks. Orian shrugs.

"Power outage? It was a pretty wicked storm." he says.

"The power going out seems like a predictable thing. Obviously, the security system would be designed for something that could withstand it. Think about it. A power outage seems like something that could happen multiple times. A place like this would at least need a back up generator.

"Doc's got a point." Phoenix nods and stops in front of a door with the marked 143. He takes a deep breath and slides the key into the door.

All the lights are on and everyone blinks as they enter. A woman no younger than twenty looks up at them with a smirk. She has orange-red hair with dark roots showing and wild brown eyes. Her voice is soft, yet commanding.

"So you think I killed Bennie huh?" she seems to be looking right at Zack, making him more and more uncomfortable as the seconds pass. She laughs a little. "Take a seat."


	18. Selena Spencer

May 29, 2008

4:30am

"Selena." Lilac glares as Selena stands from her bed.

"Dorsey." Selena can do nothing but smile. She scans the group of misfits as if approving of them all. "Nice to see you again Phoenix. It's been a while."

"W-well I'm engaged now." Phoenix says more reminding himself than sharing to Selena.

"So I've heard." she shoots a look to Lilac that makes her pop her knuckles. "Son of a bitch. _Chalice_. You're still here?" she asks Orian, most likely referring to another one of his personalities.

"Of course, Sel. It just wouldn't be the same without me would it?" Orian responds in a British accent.

"Whoa whoa whoa. I thought you killed Chalice!" Lilac says a little loud.

"It seems I've returned." Chalice replies.

"Let's not forget who created Chalice." Selena says, ruffling his hair. Finally, she makes her way to Zack. She's so close, Zack can feel her breath on his face. He doesn't move. "And look what we have here." she looks him up and down. "Fresh meat." she whispers. Zack would give anything not to stand where he stands at this moment.

"That's enough Selena. We're here for one thing only." She turns around and walks about her room.

"Do talk my dear." she says.

"When was the last you spoke with Ben Oshiro?" Zack asks, making sure to keep a safe distance from her.

"Two years ago." she says after a moment of thought. "Give or take a month."

"Well, she obviously had nothing to do with anything." Lilac throws her arms in the air in frustration and turns to head out the door.

"Wait! I saw him! we talked just yesterday."

"Ben was dead before yesterday morning." Chalice tells her. She rolls her eyes.

"Okay you got me. I haven't actually spoken with him since they locked me up in solitary confinement! But that doesn't mean I didn't want him dead!"

"So you're saying you hired someone to kill Ben." Phoenix asks.

"I'm not saying anything." she winks.

"That's impossible. She's had no contanct besides the people who bring her her food and her therapists who, were off their shifts and at home at the time of the murder." Zack points out.

"Aww. Where'd you find _him_? He's so adorable." she winks over at Zack who feels very uncomfortable.

"I knew she'd be a waste of time." Lilac folds her arms coldly. She takes Phoenix's hand and pulls him to the door. Zack has never felt so relieved in his life. Even Chalice begins to act more like Orian, or Monroe at least. As they start to leave, Selena's face changes.

"Wait." she stands in the middle of the room, very theatrically, she says, "I did it. I killed him. I killed Bennie." Phoenix rolls his eyes.

"Sure you did."

"I did, with a gun."

"There was no gun shot, stupid. He was beaten and dropped from the fifth floor." Phoenix corrects. Selena groans.

"What? Everyone murders people with guns."

"Not _everyone_. I have experience to prove that statement incorrect, Miss Spencer." Zack interrupts.

"What's with the formality? Please, darling, call me Selena." but he doesn't want to call her Selena. And he doesn't want her to call him _darling_.

"Selena, the point?" Phoenix asks, getting frustrated.

"Point is, she's no help to us." Lilac says. "Come on, baby, let's get out of here."

"I want to stay..." Chalice says. Everyone turns to him. He's been quiet for a while. Selena walks over and puts an arm around him.

"It's alright with me."

"Orian, we have to go. We could get caught." Lilac says. Zack and Phoenix are already in the hallway.

"I'm not Orian, my name is Chalice."

"Chalice has been dead for almost two years! You told me many times once you kill someone, they don't come back. Ever." Lilac is the youngest of everyone in the room and the most serious.

"Perhaps I was merely in a coma for a few years suddenly awoken by a beautiful woman like Sel."

"Oh Chal, you're just saying that."

"I'm not! Promise!" He holds up a hand.

"Chalice is dead. And if _Orian _stays here longer than another hour, he will be put under lock down and or possibly sent to Eranda. And he doesn't want that does he."

"He doesn't." Orian is back to himself again. Selena stomps her foot in anger.

"Sorry you couldn't get your way this time." Lilac gives her a mocking wink as she closes the door behind her.

The four walk back to their room talking heatedly about Selena.

"Typical HPD." Phoenix grumbles. "Overly narcissistic."

"Has to be the center of attention." Orian points out.

"Flirts with _everyone_." Lilac gives a glare at Phoenix who cowers.

"What does her flirting have to do with her disorder?" Zack asks. He may be a genius, but a doctorate in engineering and forensic anthropology doesn't exactly tell him every psychological disorder and their symptoms. Histrionic Personality Disorder has been like a grey cloud to him.

"Her _case_ means that she's pretty full of it, overly dramatic, impacted greatly on the opinions of others, strong emotions, and flirtatiously inappropriate." Lilac explains. "Long story short, if you ever need to talk to her,"

"Which won't really need to happen because she's not at all part of this case," Phoenix adds.

"Just don't visit her alone, alright?" Lilac advises Zack.

"Message received." Zack replies.


	19. A Late Night

May 29, 2008

9:00pm

FBI Agent Seeley Booth paces the lab's lounge rubbing his eyes. His tie is loose, his hair is a mess and even his "Cocky" belt buckle seems to be out of place this morning.

"Rough night, huh?" Hodgins asks, fixing a cup of coffee.

"No offense, I don't really feel like talking to you." Booth says. He turns to his own coffee and downs what's left of it like a whiskey shot. He shudders like it's a whiskey shot too.

"Wow, you started that sentence with 'no offense', must be an off day for you." Hodgins says, raising his eyebrow.

"Don't start with me, Squint." Booth warns as Angela walks into the room, equally distressed as he is.

"What's wrong, babe?" Hodgins asks her.

"Nothing, I'll tell you later." she shakes her head. Booth from across the room looks Hodgins in the eyes and mouths _She won't_, shaking his head. He abruptly stops when Angela turns to him.

"I need you to see something in my office, Seeley." She says, trying to keep herself from falling asleep. She doesn't even go for the coffee maker, but starts to head right down the stairs. Booth follows her down the stairs, a little confused.

Angela is the master at reconstruction. Not only can she reconstruct a face from a skull, but she has computer technology that can reconstruct crumpled wet paper, books that have started to decompose with the body, even pick up stuff from old hard drives and get a near perfect image on her computer.

"Okay, um, what does this look like to you?" she asks Booth as she opens a big screen. The waded paper Hodgins gave her the day before is on the screen below.

"I don't know. Scribbles and wet ink?"

"Right, well I took down the color by-"

"Please just tell me what you found."

"Well, obviously, the color bled. So I just make the mystery shapes a little thinner, and I get this." Angela does something to her computer that makes the image on the screen look thinner.

"So, more scribbles?" Agent Booth asks, half awake.

"Don't they look like letters?" Angela asks. Agent Booth looks closer.

"Whoa, as a matter of fact, they do." Agent Booth raises his eyebrows. Angela bites her lip.

"And which letters do they look like?"

"Well that's obviously a -dammit." Booth exclaims. Angela nods.

"I thought you would say that."

"Are you sure?"

"My program never fails me." as Angela speaks, Dr. Brennan enters the room, practically dancing.

"_I got the bones_!" she sings.

"Awesome." Angela plays a fake smile to hide her distress for her new discovery, and her tiredness. She was up all night, looking through a dream meaning dictionary.

"I know it is Ange! I'm so excited. Mr. Edison's cleaning the bones as we speak!"

"You're energy is insane." Booth says.

"Why wouldn't it be? The bones are ten times more important than the skin! He was dropped off a building for heaven's sake!" She beams around the room at her friends who aren't as alive she is. "What's wrong?"

"Okay, I'm just gonna put this out there, but did anyone have a weird and messed up dream last night?" asks Angela. Her colleagues shake their heads.

"Nope." says Booth.

"I don't think so." says Dr. Brennan.

Lies.

Hodgins enters at this moment. The coffee helped a little with his own drowsiness but that doesn't mean he's a little crabby at the moment.

"Who has something for me to look at at 400x magnification?" he declares.

"How about you just look at this." Angela says, pointing to the screen where the crumpled paper is projected.

"What are we supposed to make of this?" Dr. Brennan asks.

"They're letters. Are you blind?" Hodgins asks. He had a dream last night that did nothing but get him angry.

"What do they stand for?" Brennan asks.

"Met anyone with those initials?" Angela hints.

"Not that I-oh dear." Brennan shakes her head.

"Wait, but don't you think there could be lots of other people at the mental hospital with those initials?" Hodgins suggests.

"Even if they did, it will some how come back to him. He's got evidence on his back." Booth says. "I'm beginning to hate this kid."

"I was under the impression you never liked him." Brennan comments.

"Yeah, you know, I get where you're coming from." Booth is getting angry.

"So we have to go back to the hospital?" Brennan asks, dreading the answer.

"We have to. Tell Mr. McIntyre his name is written on the victim's body." Booth sighs.


	20. XRays, Eggshells, and Harry

May 29, 2008

9:30 am

"Stop doing that." Zack grumbles tiredly at breakfast. Trying to be gentle, but forceful, he pushes Lilac off his shoulder. Half asleep, she leans on his shoulder again.

"You have soft shoulders." she says, "I can't sleep on Orian without being poked in the eye."

"It's true." It seems the British accent has taken a while to wear off.

"Accent, Chalice." Phoenix coughs.

"Whoops, sorry." Orian kind of blushes.

"And Phoenix's shoulder smells weird." Lilac continues.

"Thanks, _wife_." Phoenix says, sarcastically.

"Well I don't want you on my shoulder." Zack pushes her off again but she comes right back. "Arn't you guys supposed be on lock down?"

"I know right?" Lilac snorts.

"I broke them out this morning. Everyone knows lock down food is worse then this." Phoenix says.

"Don't you think they'll find out you're gone?"

"They already dropped off our food before we left and we'll be back before they pick up the trash." Phoenix shrugs.

"What if someone sees you here?" Zack asks.

"Who would-" but Zack answers Phoenix's question before he finishes asking it.

"Shane." And sure enough, the therapist appears at their table within seconds. Orian, Phoenix and Lilac put their heads down in unison so Shane won't see who they are. But he's not here to get them in trouble. He's here with Claire again.

"_Claire_." Shane says, as if cueing her. Claire shakes her head. "Claire." He says more sternly. Her whole body is frozen.

"She can sit with us again today if that's-" but Shane cuts Zack off.

"Please, let her ask." The two look at her in anticipation. She looks between them both. Completely silent. She opens her mouth, but closes it again. "Claire, I need you to speak."

"No."

"Claire. I need you to ask." Shane is getting frustrated. It better than giving up, like he's done in the past.

"I don't want to sit here." She whispers.

"Claire, please."

"No." the two stand in silence.

"Claire, listen to me. I know you are afraid. But you have to know, I'm here to help you. I'm here so you won't be afraid." Shane explains. Claire bites her lip.

"I still won't sit here."

"Why?"

"Because of her." She raises her arm and points directly at Lilac. Zack starts to panic. Shane knows Lilac's on lock down.

"Who?" Shane asks, trying to get a good look at Lilac's face.

"Cherry, from the second floor." Zack covers with a nervous laugh. Claire gives him a confused look.

"Perhaps, I was mistaken." Claire whispers with a frown.

"Perhaps you were." Zack says out of nervousness. But bites his tongue the moment he sees Claire. Her eyes get big and her body is frozen again. In the back of his mind, Zack can hear the loud crack of the metaphoric egg shells breaking. He tries to cover that up too. "Please sit." he gestures to the spot next to him. Claire doesn't move.

"Claire, that was an invitaton. And what do you do with invitations?"

"Accent or decline." Claire answers obediantly. Zack and Shane lean in a little as she ponders an answer. "I decline." she says, turning away. She doesn't say another word as she walks to her corner in the back of the room.

"Dammit." Shane mutters, sulking off. Once he's out of earshot, Lilac, Orian, and Phoenix lift their heads.

"That was close." Orian mutters.

"No kidding." Lilac breathes. She pats Zack on the back. "Thanks for the save, Doc, I know you have the hots for her."

"That's inapropriate and even if it was true, completely irrelevant as to why I did it in the first place." the three of his friends smile warmly "And that's the last time I'll stick up for you! You know you guys will get in trouble eventually." Zack couldn't have said so at a better time. The intercom beeps loudly at his last word.

"Felix McIntyre, we know you are not in your room. We will give you five minutes for you to return. You have visitors."

Phoenix turns pale. "Shit"

"Baby, what's going on?" Lilac looks equally frightened.

"I-I don't know, probably something to do with Peter." he says, hoping it's only that.

"Y-y-you didn't kill him, right?" she aks.

"Of course not honey, you know." he gently kisses her forehead before turning to Zack. "I don't have much time and they're gonna ask about the key." he slips the card out of his back pocket and slides it across the table to Zack. "Wait a few minutes and get Ori and Lilac back. If anyone asks anything, deny it all." Phoenix turns away and bolts out the cafeteria doors. Zack takes a nervous gulp.

"I never really broken any big rules before."

"Didn't you kill someone?" Orian asks. Zack opens his mouth, but closes it quickly.

"Nevermind that." He stands up. "Let's get the hell out of here." he commands the two to follow him.

They are halfway down the hallway when someone calls Zack's name. He freezes in his tracks.

"Zack!" the voice calls again. It's only Dr. Brennan. He waves for Orian and Lilac to move forward and turns to talk to his old boss.

"Dr. Brennan." he smiles and pulls her into a more awkward than warm hug. "What are you doing here?"

"We have to talk to Felix. His initials were written on a paper found in Mr. Oshiro's pocket."

"Initials are not very unique. Anyone in this hospital can have the same type. What makes you think they're Phoen-er Felix's?"

"He's got a lot of evidence pointing to him." Dr. Brennan sighs.

"That's still too much of a leap." Zack frowns.

"It's all we got." she shrugs and starts to walk off when Agent Booth comes up from behind her.

"You don't _have_ to be part of the interrogation." Booth says. Dr. Brennan frowns.

"But I'm your partner..."

"Why don't you pay Zack a visit." Booth suggests. Brennan puts her hands on her hips to protest.

"That's not why you dragged me here, is it?" she feels both deceived and a little uneasy. She hasn't been to fond of talking to Zack in the past few days. Even asking him to help on the case made her stomach tight and queasy.

"_Bones_." Booth sighs and speaks at the same time. He gives her a push in Zacks direction and turns to walk the opposite way down the hallway.

Zack is just as thrilled as Brennan regarding their forced meeting. He still has the master key and Orian and Lilac are still loose in the building.

"You should sign in as a visitor first." Zack says, trying to stall.

"I already have...but for-for Felix. So...I guess I should-"

"Yeah..." Zack nods nervously.

"I'll just meet you at your room." Brennan says rather awkwardly. As soon as she turns around, Zack bolts down the hallway in Lilac and Orian's directing. He's out of breath when he finally catches up to them. Orian has a worried look on his face and Lilac is hyperventilating.

"What if-what if-what if-they s-s-s-s-send him to Err-Eranda. And then we'll never-"

"Lilac, you need to breath." Orian advises.

"Don't tell me what to do, Harry." Lilac shoots, breathing heavily.

"Harry?" Zack looks at his friends, confused.

"Harry. Pleasure meeting you." Orian holds out a hand.

"It's his personality he uses when he's being 'parental'. His dad's name is Harold." Lilac explains glancing up with puffy red eyes. She's been crying.

"Zack, I need you to please give me the key. Lilac, you need to lie down." Harry commands the two of them. Zack, much older than Harry obeys like it's his own father commanding him to do something. Zack also has no time, Brennan will be on her way to his room at any moment. Teaching himself to trust Orian and Lilac with a master key, Zack rushes through the hallways up two flights of stairs and down another corridor.

By the time Brennan open his door, he is seated peacefully on his bed.

"Dr. Brennan." he nods. Secretly hoping she will make this visit quick.

"Zack." She says, standing awkwardly at the door.

"Oh, please sit." Zack says, remembering his manners.

The two sit at the table in the middle of the room. At one second, they look each other straight in the eyes, and at another, right to the floor. Then to each other, than the floor. When their eyes meet a third time, Dr. Brennan speaks.

"You are well missed and difficult to replace." she says, trying to start a conversation. It's weak, and this confuses her. She and Zack used to always be able to talk to each other. She loved talking with him because he's the only person she knows who can keep a steady intelligent conversation with her. Today, however, their exchange is quickly going on a downward spiral.

"It's not like the Jeffersonians collapsed in my absence. I was hardly anyone, working there. I wasn't even a chip of paint let alone a structural pillar." Zack whispers.

"No you weren't!" Dr. Brennan protests. "You were brilliant. A valuable member of our team! If anything we're shaken by your absence." Zack doesn't like hearing things like this but his mind doesn't rest on the idea. His wandering eyes are drawn to a translucent sheet sticking out of Dr. Brennan's purse. X-rays. He ponders a thought for a moment.

_She doesn't technically need them if she's got the real bones where she is. I guess it all depends when Cam's done with the autopsy. No. She has the body. She can get more x-rays. She probably HAS more x-rays!_

"Zack?"

"Sorry Dr. Brennan. It seems my mind's escaped me. I'm flattered by your observation, although I disagree." Zack says, eyes still fixed on Dr. Brennan's purse.

"Think what you will, we all love you." she smiles, but quickly frowns as she realizes he's not even looking at her. She changes the subject. "What's that?" she asks, pointing to the chalk drawings on Zack's wall. Zack stops, scared she might notice his investigation notes, but instead, goes straight to his periodic table of elements. "This is very well done. Got it straight down to the electron, neutron _and_ proton count for each. Only _you_ could have memorized each." Brennan smiles proudly at Zack. Behind her back, Zack quietly tries to snag the x-rays.

"To me, it's quite simple, actually, you have to know the atomic number whch already the number of protons and electrons and then you subtract that by the atomic mass and you get the count of neutrons. Junior High." Zack explains.

"Such awkward years." Dr. Brennan mutters, continuing to study the table as Zack gets the last of the x-rays. All labeled B. Oshiro.

"I was never to fond of my pre-High School years, myself. Or school for that matter. No one cared about learning."

"No one cared as much as you did." Brennan guesses. Zack nods with a smile.

"I've never seen a grad student so devoted to their work." Brennan smiles, "You're one of the best." Another compliment. Zack doesn't know what to make of it. So he hugs her again. It speaks the unspoken. Zack _does_ miss everyone as much as they miss him. Zack regrets everything he did. And it seems, Dr. Brennan understands. The two go to sit at the table again, this time feeling like they know a little more about each other now.

Soon enough, it's just like old times.

"Naomi in Paleontology asked about you yesterday." the mentioning of an ex girlfriend is an interesting topic for Zack. He sits up straighter with a -well predicted- confused look on his face.

"What did she say?" he asks.

"She asked how you were. She might visit."

"I wouldn't like that." Zack mutters.

"I don't think she gave the impression she would either. Perhaps it's a nice gesture I know you were a little discouraged when the two of you split." Brennan explains. Zack smiles.

"Define discouraged."

"You know what it means."

"Then I wasn't _discouraged_. I assure you, Dr. Brennan. I'm more complex than you think I am."

"Of course." She beams.


	21. A Stupid Competition for Male Dominance

May 29, 2008

10:00am

"Sit down, McIntyre." Agent Booth grumbles as he stares ahead at a young man with dark greasy hair. The boy is noticeably worried which gives Booth an advantage. He decides there's no harm in scaring him a little bit more. "So where were you?" As Felix takes a seat, he swallows hard.

"O-out." he mumbles. _Not so tough now, are you, fire boy?_ Booth thinks to himself.

"Taking a little joy ride? Tell me, McIntyre, where did you get a master card?" Felix tries his hardest not to make eye contact, preparing himself for a lie. Booth knows all about liars. Sweets taught him.

"I don't have one. My regular card just...worked..." Felix fibs.

"Sure. In a secure psychiatric hospital, filled with weirdos and psychos, a guy on lock down, because he broke a couple rules and is a part of not one but _ two_ murder cases can just slip out because they forgot to program the system to reject his card?"

"Yup." Felix crosses his arms and looks Booth dead on, almost challenging him. Booth smiles at the boy trying to be tough while he is not only twice his age but could also pin him to the ground in _seconds_. Booth remembers not to let Felix have the feeling that he can stare him down. Booth wants to be the tough guy of the room. So he goes to his next topic of conversation. With a defeating smirk, Booth pulls from his pocket a screen shot from Angela's computer. The magnified and edited image of Felix's initials.

"Can you describe to me what this is?" Agent Booth asks, sliding the paper across the table. Felix examines it carefully before sliding it back.

"'Dunno. Some weird Japanese writing? Ben was Japanese you know, cause of the organs in his name."

"First off, it's _origins_ and the markings are American. Look at it again." Booth pushes the paper back and Felix studies it harder.

"Well that's an 'F' and that one looks like an 'M' FM. The guy listened to the radio." Felix says calmly. Booth rolls his eyes

"They're initials! You're initials!" Booth says. The boy pushes the picture away.

"No they aren't! Phoenix starts with a p-h!"

"That's not your name! No let's paint a picture." Booth is getting frustrated with this kid. "You and your dearly beloved are engaged, but Oshiro put you on lock down, on top of that, your girl, maybe she wasn't so faithful. So you go to her room in the middle of the night, throw her around a little bit and kill Oshiro for defying you, like you killed your step dad." Booth knows that no evidence can prove the story true word for word. Besides the fact that Lilac and Mr. Oshiro were attacked the night of Ben's death. But Booth likes coming up with stories, you could say it's his own creative outlet. It's his imagination getting the best of him, and while Dr. Brennan doesn't approve of it one bit, helps him out with his job.

At this point, it doesn't matter if it's true or not. He needs Felix to confess to something. Make his day a whole lot easier.

"Why would you think my girl wouldn't be faithful to me? It's been weeks since her last _outbreak. _We've been working to get out of here, you know? I'm so close! I returned Jerry's lighter and everything. Plus who the hell would she be unfaithful with?"

"Your schizophrenic friend perhaps?" Booth guesses. He watches the boys expression change. Say something. Anything.

"She-she wouldn't." Felix says.

"Oh yeah? Maybe you already knew that. Maybe you told Mikey Thomas and that's why he knew."

"_Michael_ has been dead for four years. And neither he nor I would ever do anything like that."

"Why'd your face change then? It seems you thought for a second Lilac would do something like that." Booth tests.

"You don't know what I think! You don't know anything about me or Lilac or Orian. You wanna know what I was doing that night? I was in my room. Writing my vows." Felix is standing now. Practically shaking.

"Are you serious? How old are you?"

"Eighteen sir."

"So that makes Lilac underage."

"Yeah so we're waiting." Felix crosses his arms.

"It's really gonna suck when she's eighteen and your in jail for two different murders." Booth says.

"I didn't kill anyone! I'm telling you!" Felix says. Booth looks him up and down before accepting so. But there's something the boy isn't telling him.

"Do you have any information? Anything at all?" he asks. Felix stops to think. To his rationale, he thinks more of where his loyalties lie. Even though both Zack and Agent Booth are working on the same case, working to find the same solution, Felix only wants to tell Zack what he knows. He trusts Zack more and isn't to fond of Agent Booth.

"Nothing." Felix finally shrugs. A little angry, Booth rubs his eyes, snatches the screen shot back and jams it in his pocket.

"You find anything, you call me. Okay? I'm leaving my number with your supervisor." Booth tells him. Felix nods obediantly even though he will do no such thing. Booth knows that too.


	22. Elementary, My Dear Watson

May 29, 2008

1:00pm

Orian knocks on Phoenix's door after a crappy lock-down lunch. He has the master key.

"Thank god," Phoenix breathes, snatching the key card from Orian, who, snatches it right back.

"Not so fast, young man." Orian says yet again, in a British accent.

"Chalice? Have you been visiting with Selena?"

"Not Chalice, Watson." Orian corrects seriously and enters Phoenix's room with his arms held tightly behind his back as if he fears he'll break something. He examines Phoenix's room a little before facing him directly, like a soldier reporting for duty. Phoenix studies his friend's new persona but doesn't quite know what to make of him yet.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Watson." Phoenix plays along, nodding his head.

"Dr. Watson." Watson corrects trying to be more like Zack rather than Dr. Watson from the famous _Sherlock Holmes _novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whom he did not know was a doctor as well. Phoenix raises an eyebrow.

"I see." he says. "and what brings you here, _Dr._ Watson?"

"A murder, and you know very well which. While our dear friend Dr. Addy is away in his dorm working on the science of the case, it is up to us to be out on the feild!"

"Is it now?"

"Of course, we still have a list of suspects. We don't want whoever killed Mr. Oshiro to be out and about on a Sunday stroll now do we?" Watson tests.

"But, it's Thursday..."

"Not the point, my boy. Our killer knows we can't find him -so he is tranquil just like-"

"Oh okay, now I get it. A Sunday stroll." Phoenix rolls his eyes. This Watson guy's getting real corny, real quick. "So why are you here if you're not giving me my damn master key."

"This isn't yours! This master key belongs to a Ms. Candace Clark!"

"Yeah, so I lifted it off her a when she came in to get my food a few days ago." Phoenix confesses, he holds out his hand but Watson still refuses to give it to him. "Then why the hell are you here?"

"We have business to attend to. Dr. Addy is up in his room with _x-rays_. And I thought we'd do him the favor of cover the suspects."

"Wait, you're telling me Doc doesn't know about this?" Phoenix asks. Watsons plainly shakes his head. "Then we should have no reason to do so. He was planning to do so himself, we shouldn't get in the way."

"I never met anyone more self centered." Watson says, dropping his accent.

"Yes you have," Phoenix crosses to sit on his bed. He kicks his feet up, giving up taking the key. "Selena. She's here for her self centeredness, actually." Watson has changed back to Orian now. He crosses firmly to Phoenix's bed and stands over him, hands on hips.

"Have you ever done something, just to do it? Like, for the sake of being nice?" he asks.

"I have. For Lilac. Because she's my fiance. But I'm not marrying Zack." Phoenix chuckles but Orian just stares at him seriously. "What do you want me to say?"

"The truth."

"But I do stuff for Lilac!"

"Truthfully? Sure. But besides your _one true love_, you only care about yourself and that's it. You only do stuff when you're told to-and sometimes not even then." Orian says. Phoenix looks surpised and somewhat caught off guard. He stares off into space for a while, contimplating his decision.

"Fine." he says after a few minutes. Orian's face lights up.

"You mean it?"

"Sure do." Phoenix gets up and crosses to the door. He actually doesn't want to help Zack but Orian now holds his one way ticket to his way out of his room. "Will you do the honors?" he gestures to the key pad.

"Of course." Orian says, turning back into Watson. His expression is mainly of pride in getting his friend to do a kind thing for others, little does he know, that his friend's motives are out of pure selfishness.

They walk calmy down the mostly empty hallways of the facility acting like nothings wrong. Phoenix, with his history of trouble-making knows this is the best way to show that you aren't up to something.

"Where do you think Jerry is?" Watson asks, twirling they key card with his fingers.

"Well, he's a night guard. And it's like, the day..." Phoenix says. "So I'm guessing he's still at home." He shoves his hands in his pockets, giving up.

"Well that's not true," Watson protests, turning the corner. " He comes in at lunch to hit on Ms. James."

"And have his daily smoke." Phoenix sighs. They head straight to Willie's office and Jerry is standing outside, smoking a cigarette, just as predicted.

At a glance, Jerry doesn't look like a tough night guard who presumably beat up Lilac and Ben. He's a slim man, with a narrow face and a pointed nose. His eyelids always drop heavy over his blue eyes like he's hardly got any sleep. Being a night guard, he's not supposed to be in the facility during the day, but like every man here, he's got the eyes for Willie. Sadly for him, Willie will hardly give him the time of day, let alone her phone number.

"Good to see you Jerald." Watson greets at the two boys calmly and unsuspiciously exit through the doors to stand next to Jerry. Watson is normal with a questioning look. Phoenix, on the other hand, hasn't lifted his eye from Jerry's cigarette, since he saw it.

"Jerald isn't my full name. It's just Jerry." Jerry says, taking another smoke.

"My appolgies. We just have a few questions." Watson pulls from his pocket, a miniature pad of paper and a pen.

"Wow, a character change, huh Mickey? Who are you today?"

"Dr. Watson, sir. And please, questions, if you will."

"Sure." Jerry shrugs. He drops the cigarette on the ground and crushes it with his boot. Phoenix whimpers. "What do you need to know?"

"You and Ben, you weren't _good friends_, were you?" Watson asks. Jerry chuckles.

"Oh so this is about that, now is it?" He asks, still smiling. "Why would you suspect me?"

"Well," Phoenix's voice cracks a little bit, in mourning of the cigarette. "You and Ben hated each other and the body was covered in burns. You're the only one here that's allowed a lighter."

"I'm actually not. No one is. Ben turned me in for my lighter. I'd also like it if you didn't tell anyone about this." Jerry sheepishly slips his lighter into his back pocket.

"All the more reason to kill Ben. And burn marks on his arms would go nicely in the terms of sweet dramatic irony." Watson points out and Jerry frowns.

"You guys are...serious about this?" he ask. The two boys nod.

"And you've definitely said enough."

"It's not like you're the FBI!" Jerry says, somewhat offended.

"Yeah but Zack-oomf." Phoenix is interrupted with a swift elbow in the stomach from Watson.

"Zack what? You talking about the new guy from the Jeffersonian?" Jerry asks.

"Why would he? Dr. Addy is a _scientist_ not an FBI agent." Watson speaks through his teeth hinting for Phoenix to _shut up_.

"Look, as much as the facts go to me, I didn't do it okay? I wasn't even there that night." Jerry says.

"What on earth has happened to your hands?" Watson says, staring intensly at Jerry's hands, scratched and bruised.

"Bar fight. As much as I would've loved to be there, Ben's death was on my night off." He shrugs and a woman comes through the door. Willie gently dabs a cloth to her eyes so not to mess up her makeup.

"I'm ready to go, Jeremiah." she says, taking him by the arm.

"Jeremiah? How is that better than Jerald?" Phoenix asks.

"There are many reasons," Jerry protests, "for one I'm pretty sure Jerald does not start with a J."

"And Jerry does?" Phoenix asks. Willie turns to face them, her eyes wide.

"You two are supposed to be in your room." she says. Phoenix swallows hard.

"Excuse me!" Watson exclaims, "But we are conducting an investigation here."

"Excuse me, but you two are supposed to be on lock down!" Willie glares. Nothing can compare to a glare from Wilma James. It's both threatening and piercing, but doesn't make you feel afraid, more guilty. Like you've just broken your mother's favorite face. And your mother doesn't love you anymore. The two boys race back to there rooms.


	23. Unwanted Visitor

**A/N: Well, obviously, I don't really do author's notes but I really wanted to address some of my reviewers that were signed in anonymously so I figured I talked to everyone all together. I've realized I haven't been posting as often I used to and frankly, I feel really bad. It's not like I've been busy. It's been a pretty uneventful summer and I don't really have much of a life. No, haha, my fingers aren't broken. Although, my "I" key has been acting up. I have to pound it pretty hard now, (damn this used computer). **

**I just want to take the time to thank all my readers and reviewers. I really love all your patience and support and optimistic messages and even your constructive criticism. You guys are amazing. Seriously. I don't know what I'd do without you. I probably wouldn't have _*23*_ chapters that's for sure. AND STILL MORE TO COME! But yeah. You rock.**

* * *

><p>May 29, 2008<p>

3:00pm

There is a knock on Zack's door. Just a knock. No one enters. He checks the window, confused. Dr. Lance Sweets, is staring back at him. Sweets is a psychologist who works for the FBI. Among Zack's colleagues, Sweets also has a place as the criminal profiler and for his work on the relationship/partnership of Booth and Brennan. He seldom comes down to the lab and Zack doesn't recall knowing him that much.

"Why are you here?" he wonders allowed.

"It's Thursday." Sweets replies. There is a heavy door between them but they can hear each other clearly. "No one gave me a key, reception's like, missing."

"Then come back later." Zack says. He doesn't mean to sound rude but he doesn't want Sweets to see the x-rays or the investigation notes written on the wall. All he wants is to keep him out of the room.

"Can you let me in?" Sweets asks. Zack checks his access card.

"Can we walk outside?" he asks. Sweets seems to think it over, maybe even beginnning to take mental notes for their session. Zack realizes that, he doesn't like the idea of being studied. And these are what their sessions are about. He knows, that Sweets is here to study him. Figure out how a guy like Zack could kill a man. Well he did. And it happened. And that is that.

"Sure." Sweets says, nodding. Zack quickly slides out of his room so not to reveal anything inside-as least further than than the tiny window can see. "Why do you want to meet outside?"

"It's a nice day." Is all Zack can come up with.

It is, infact, a very nice day. While it is late May, the sun doesn't seem to dangerous. There's even a cool breeze. Zack likes the feeling on his skin, but his hands sweat from underneath his gloves. He longs to take them off, but that won't exactly help.

"I suppose you're wondering why we have to have these sessions." Sweets says after a period of silence. Zack shakes his head.

"No, not really. I know you think there's something wrong with me, mentally, but we have group therapy for that." Zack points out.

"Why'd you do it?" Sweets asks, getting straight to the point. He doesn't bother explainging his place to Zack. He knows Zack knows.

"I don't understand the point of the question. I thought we established that I did it because I'm crazy." Zack throws his arm to gesture to the mental facility adding dramatic effect and emphasis that he's getting a little frsutrated with Sweets. Sweets takes the hint and backs down a little but Zack continues. "You think because you're a psychologist that you can read my mind. You can predict my every move because that's the kind of person that I am. Frankly, I find your practice pointless as the human mind is unpredictable!"

"Is it now?" Sweets questions, still making mental notes. This angers Zack even more.

"It is. Sure, I believe that there are paterns, but it seems to you that it's so impossible that someone like me could kill someone."

"Because...it is."

"WHY?" Zack yells. People turn around to stare. Chubby Lenney, standing nearby squeals and runs into the librarby. This is very unlike Zack. Calm quiet, practical Zack. The only time he even remebers letting anger get the best of him was when he punched Hodgins in the face. Even then, Hodgins was purposely provoking him. Sweets gets really quiet, nervously adjusting his tie.

"Right. Well I have another appointment to tend to." he says, not even answering Zack's question. Zack realizes he's causes a stir. He shrinks back to himself, feeling a little awkward.

"Yes, well I guess then the session's over."

"Yeah..." within minutes, Zack is left alone in the hallway. Some first session this turned out to be.


	24. What's Your Favorite Color?

May 29, 2008

5:00pm

Zack sneezes in the chalk dust. A thin purple powder covers his thick black gloves as he sits criss-cross on the floor opposite a scale drawing of the x-rays on the wall.

_Not good enough_. He thinks to himself he wets a bit of his glove with his tongue in attempt to wipe off a mistake. His result is a mouthfull of chalk dust. He coughs a bit as Orian slides in his door.

"Don't mind me. I don't mean to interrupt. Just observe." he says calmly taking a seat. Zack turns around to give a confused look.

"Why?" he asks simply.

"It's been my passion to become a forestic ant-thropolist."

"Forensic anthropologist?"

"Yes that." Orian doesn't look at Zack much, but more at Angela's graffiti. Zack continues to question him.

"Since when?"

"Twenty minutes ago." Orian stares completely off into space. Zack takes that as a time to turn back to his work.

_Orian won't be of any interuption_. Zack says to himself. He is horribly wrong.

"So what is your favorite color?" Orian questions, beginning his abnormal tapping.

"Do I have to have one?" Zack groans, half engaged in the conversation.

"Yes." Orian says sternly. His tapping starts to aggrivate Zack, but he does his best to ignore it, squinting closer at the cervical vertebrae and images in the general area of the x-ray. All the bones are brutally broken, most likely from the fall. But it doesn't stand out. Anyone can push someone out a window. Even on purpose. Which would eliminate all the suspects with motive. Hell, Lilac could've done it in her sleep. Considering she was a sleep walker. It wouldn't hurt to ask.

_No Zack, stop thinking like Booth. You concour from the data you have collected. Not wild guesses. _Zack warns himself. Trying to move his thinking from the suspects, he begins to tune in and out of his conversation with Orian.

"Don't you think it's a little pointless? Colors are merely the names of the different types of light that come into your eyes and how you see things. They're not really meant for someone have a favorite. It's like asking, 'What's your favorite element on the periodic table?'." Zack says, glancing over at his own rendering of the periodic table of elements on the wall. The element, Mercury, catching his eye all too quickly.

"What color do you just _happen_ to like more than the other colors?"

"I don't know." Zack wonders absent-mindedly. Another theory creeps up, but he rejects it. And instantly regrets doing so.

"You're shirts green today. Do you like green?"

"For the last time, it's white." Zack says. His voice trails off, he becomes more engaged in his "bones" and his theory has snuck up to the back of his brilliant mind.

"You and your ficticious 'white'!" Orian chuckles. Zack notices that Orian has found a piece of pink chalk but only when he angrily throws it against the wall.

"Hey watch it." Zack exclaims, ducking as pink dust scatters to the floor.

"Find out how Bennie died?" Orians eyes get soft.

"Kind of. I might need to talk to Lilac." Zack whispers. He makes a few adjustsments to his work and takes a couple of notes.

"Oh you need me to get her?"

"She should be recieving dinner. Do you think that would be to close of a call?" Zack asks, finally lifting his head from his work to give Orian his full attention.

"She's getting a new supervisor. And Willie's pretty sympathetic about Lilac's case. It seems she thinks Lilac's innocent." Orian shrugs. He holds the master key in the air. "B-R-B in five minutes."

"But wait, what does B.R.B mean-" but Orian has already left. Zack gets up and dusts off his pants. Tenderly rubbing his hands, he makes his way to the table to find another one of Orian's odd drawings in the best visability sidewalk chalk has on metal. It's a drawing of a woman. With a light saber. And a flower. Each petal on the flower alternates the words "he loves me" and "he loves me not". Behind his a man. Clutching a flower rather tightly. Practically stangling it. Zack studies this with great interest. Both figures of the man and woman are faceless. Strangers.

Zack's door opening alerts him. Lilac and Orian enter carefree. Orian slightly blushes seeing Zack's noticed his drawing.

"What's up, Doc?" Lilac asks. She's chewing gum. Obnoxiously. Zack ignores it with a chuckle, proud he understands the reference.

"Just need to ask a few questions about that night." Zack says, crossing back over to his notes.

"I already told everything to your hot agent friend."

"Then this will be easy for you." Zack mutters. He chooses a dark blue colored chalk, reminding him of his old Jeffersonian lab coat. He takes little time feeling nostalgic. "Do you have any history of sleep walking?"

"What? No! I was awake the whole time."

"Just. Tell me what happened." Zack sighs.

"Well. Ben doesn't always take night shifts. But that night he really wanted to. He never stays INSIDE my room at night. Cause that's creepy. He was waiting outside. But had to come into my room to check if I was still there when the power randomly went out. And then someone opens the door and comes right at Ben. I couldn't make out a face-as I told the police A BAJILLION TIMES-but it seems Ben knew who it was. He kept talking to the person - forgot what he said and then this dude shoves something up Ben's sleeve that makes Ben _scream_ and I'm just all _Oh HELL NO_ and try to attack this weirdo. The freak pushes me into the wall as well as the thing he shoved up Ben's sleeve. It stung. Like hell. Then they start fighting. Ben was kinda being a wimp. Like I've seen him take down guys twice his size but it was like there was something wrong with him. Maybe his arms. I guess. Lots of punching.I hear a crack and Ben stops fighting. I see blood and I pass out. I'm quite squemish, you know. I woke up five feet from where I passed out. Someone cut my arm with a bed spring."

Everyone's quiet for a moment. Taking the story in. Zack speaks first.

"Excellent."

"That's not a...normal response." Lilac says with a confused look. Zack pulls out the x-ray of the neck, accepting his once far off theory.

"See these cracks on this bone and this bones."

"And that one." Orian points out a third in the line. Zack smiles.

"Good job." proud of his fast learning. He pauses and goes back to explaining. "These are called the C3, C4, C5, vertebrae and they are part of the spinal cord. Our murderer used a technique to twist and break Ben's neck. By breaking _this _ part of the neck, he cut off the part of the spinal cord that controls the breathing. No breathing."

"Ben became a fish."

"And I've lost you." Zack shakes his head. "I actually know a few people that can do this. And they're all in the army. Not gonna jump to the generalization just yet but I think that-"

"Hey Jerry used to be in the army!" Orian interrupts. Zack and Lilac just stare at him.

"I'm gonna-"

"Yeah." Zack is practically reading her mind. She gently removes the master key from Orian's pocket and slips out the door. Orian looks like he's gonna say something, but decides not to.

"We should probably head to dinner." Orian says.

"Aren't you on lock down?"

"She just took my key so..."

"Yeah. You head down, I'll meet you in sec." Zack says, turn to find a place to put his x-rays. Orian is on his way out the door when Zack stops him.

"Yeah Doc?" he asks. Zack pauses a bit before smiling.

"_Dark blue._"


	25. The Other Woman

May 29, 2008

7:00pm

Dr. Lance Sweets makes his way up a flight of stairs to apartment number 722. It's been quite a long day. Apart from his usual clients, Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan wouldn't cooperation, refusing to say anything about their unusual dreams they lightly mentioned. Not to mention the somewhat awkward visit with Zack. He didn't mean to make him angry. To tell the truth, Zack angers Sweets. From the beginning, Zack's been this predictable geeky kind of boy. Socially inept. Incredibly intelligent. But the least likely to start something out of the ordinary, much less kill someone.

Sweets takes a heavy sigh has he knocks on the door of a one Candace Clark. Oddly enough, she's the appointment he's been looking forward to all day. The fact that she was a first strict and uptight and then completely fallen apart. Was in multiple personality disorder? Was it the sudden loss of a loved on that shook her to the core? What's her story?

It's surprising when the door opens to reveal a thin lipped woman dressed in shades of grey. Her hair is pulled back in a rather tight bun. He faces bears an annoyed grimace. The is even more exciting for Sweets.

"I'm sorry, were you not expecting me. I asked Dr. Brennan to contact you."

"No. I knew you were coming. Please, take a seat." she's very formal. Her head held high. Her posture, perfect. She opens the door wider to allow Sweets to enter. Her how is clean. Spotless. Not even a drifting piece of dust.

"Am I in the right place?" he asks a little bewildered. Although, even more excited.

"What on earth makes you wonder that? I assume you're here to ask me if I killed Benjamin." It almost surprises Sweets that Candace is using first names. He would've expected her to call him Mr. Oshiro.

"It's just that Dr. Brennan described your house as-" Candace cuts Sweets off with a sigh.

"A pig pen? I will admit I've been a bit of a mess. I really loved Ben," Candace admits, "like a brother."

"Wait, what? I thought you too were..."

"Oh we were. But you know after you've had strong feelings for someone you can't just stop loving them." Candace seems to break from her strict self for a moment but notices and stands a little straighter. "May I get you a drink?"

"Do you have any coffee, actually."

"Yes sir. Black?"

"Yes thank you. Now how recently have you and Ben been...linked?"

"Oh gosh. Maybe a day or two? It just felt wrong." She speaks as she enters the kitchen.

"Wrong? What makes you say that?"

"Technically she had him first. I can't believe I got in the way of that. I feel horrible of course." Candace says.

"She? Who's she?" Sweets asks with a raise of only one eyebrow. He does that sometimes. Candace purses her thin lips and shakes her head.

"He wouldn't tell me." her expression is a little sympathetic that she has no information on the mystery woman. Another sigh. "So I tried to get him over her and you know, more to me." She carries the drinks to the coffee table and takes a seat on the couch. "That doesn't make me sound evil, does it?"

"A little conceited." Sweets admits taking a sip of the coffee. She glares at him which slowly morphs into an exaggerated eye roll.

"Anything else?"

"Did this mystery woman have mutual feelings for Ben?" Sweets asks.

"Oh yes. They were in a daze. I was a little jealous. But it wasn't as bad as I felt when I took him from her. But you know how girls get when they like guys."

"No...I don't know." Sweets look genuinely confused.

"Oh sure you do. You've got one of those faces." Candace winks.

"Is this girl the jealous type?"

"Well now that you mention...oh...oh my god." She reaches for a tissue box. "I killed him. I killed Bennie!" She starts to cry.

"Ma'am! Are you admitting to murder?"

"No. It's just- she was the jealous type. She sent me and him threats and stuff and. Oh my gosh." She sobs harder. Sweets doesn't quite know what to do with the situation. Should he watch her react? Or comfort her. Her comment about his face has put him in a place where he would like to say at a safe distance from her.

"Did he ever carry a picture of her. Or kept a diary?" Sweets asks, feeling like Booth.

"He kept a piece of paper with her initials on it in his pocket. It drove me crazy. I guess he's always gonna love her too...well I guess not anymore."

"Are you alright Ms. Clark?" Sweets asks.

"I was gonna go back to work today, but but I just can't I can't."

"Ms. Clark, I don't advise you keep this up. I can mess with your life in a very big way. You need to teach yourself to move on to-"

"Get the hell out of my house." Candace scolds. Dr. Sweets does just that.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey, me again I just wanted to let you in on a fun fact. You know the part of last chapter where it's like ""That's like having a favorite element on the periodic table" Zack says, looking to his on rendering of the periodic table of elements, the element Mercury catching his eye all too quickly." Well I threw that in there not only because my favorite is Mercury, but because Mercury used to be used to make hats and people who worked around too much Mercury used to get Mercury poison and literally went crazy. Hence the term "Mad Hatter" or "Mad as a Hatter" I thought it was appropriate in Zack's current situation. **

**Thanks again to all my readers! I love you all! More tomorrow...hopefully!**


	26. Up All Night

May 30, 2009

7:42am

"Have you been here all night?" Dr. Jack Hodgins asks as he sets down a cup off coffee on Angela's desk. Angela yawns, half asleep. She mumbles a little bit and rubs her eyes.

"Thanks." a gentle hand tries to grab for the coffee but she gives up.

"I could've sworn you went home with me." Hodgins says pulling up a chair.

"I know, I came in early this morning. Sweets called me about the paper. We think our killer's initials were on the paper."

"So it was the McIntyre kid?"

"Not exactly. Apparently, it was like a girlfriend of the victim. So we can call the mental place and tell them they can let go of the boy." she reaches for the phone but Hodgins stops her.

"I think I'm gonna visit Zack over lunch. I'll tell them then."

"Aw, I wanna visit Zack." Angela can barely keep her eyes open.

"How early did you come in?" Hodgins asks trying to hold her up from falling out of her chair.

"Two? Sweets called me around eight and by that point we'd already gone home but I couldn't stop thinking about it. I've tried turning the picture every which way. Besides FM, I cog N3, UE, and WJ. Then I checked the database of the mental hospital to find anyone with those initials and his address book and then-" she drifts off falling asleep. Hodgins smiles as he watches his girlfriend peacefully sleep.

_She looks so beautiful_. He thinks to himself. Which is why he doesn't notice when Dr. Saroyan enters the room, a little more awake even him.

"Good morning, Hodgins. Anything on those skin samples?" she asks, eyeing the sleeping Angela suspiciously.

"Besides skin." Hodgins jokes, laughing a little. She doesn't respond. "Vinyl acetate just a bit, can't figure out what type yet."

"So what is it?" Saroyan asks, tired of asking this multiple times. She's been considering actually studying the names of different particulates but it would just be a waste of time being as Hodgins always explains everythng in the end.

"Hairspray, latex paints, white glue."

"That doesn't exactly narrow it down."

"I know." Hodgins groans. He runs his hand through his hair a little frustrated. It's his anger management issues. Dr. Saroyan realizes this and changes the subject.

"What-?" she asks, pointing to Angela who is now fast asleep.

"She's trying to figure out the initials on the paper because apparently the killer's initials are-"

"Oh yeah, Sweets texted me this morning. I'm on my way to get Booth to go to interview some of the patients." Dr. Saroyan looks abck to Angela and shakes her head. "It's not like her to be all sleepless. She's always been so layed back." she admits. Hodgins nods.

"No kidding. Do you think it's because Zacks part of it?"

"It might be. He's not really a suspect. He's got nothing to do with it." Dr. Saroyan shrugs. And heads out the door.

"Wait, Cam." Hodgins stops her.

"Yes?" she asks.

"You don't have to get Booth to go to the mental hospital. Ange and I will go. I'm gonna head down to visit Zack anyway. And she worked so hard to get all the stuff together. Plus Booth hates the hospital."

"Would if I could, but you guys aren't FBI. You don't really have authority to interview." Cam says, foldinger arms, sympathetically.

"What if it was like an undercover thing? Dr. Brennan isn't FBI and she still gets to interrogate." Hodgins points out. Cam sighs.

"I don't know what to tell you. Angela did a good job but it looks like she needs some sleep and YOU need to find more paticulates in the skin."

"I'll do it on my lunch break."

"Fine. But don't get me in trouble."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: A special Happy Birthday Greeting goes out to Eric Millegan who played Dr. Zack Addy on BONES. He turned 37 on August 25 and doesn't look a day over 20!**


	27. FM, N3, UE, and WJ

May 30, 2008

12:24pm

"Well hello there Sleeping Beauty." Dr. Hodgins smiles down on Angela as she blinks in the sunlight shinning through the windsheild of the car.

"I fell asleep again didn't I?" she asks, rubbing her eyes.

"It doesn't matter. You were up very late doing something very important for our case." Hodgins assures her. Their car pulls up to a tall gate. A sign on a post a few feet away reads _McKinely Psychiatric Hospital_.

"That sign always makes me sick to my stomach." Angela mumbles, staring right at it.

"How so?"

"It just does. It makes me miss Zack. And then it makes me think of him, like, killing someone." she shudders. "It's to weird."

"But he did kill someone." Hodgins points out, though he hates to.

"What if he didn't? What if this is all a dream? What if I can just wake up and it's all back to normal."

"Me too..." the conversation stops stops slowly as they drive through the now open gates and park the car. The don't say anything upon entering the hospital either. It isn't until Willie asks who they are visiting, that thet speak up finally.

"Um, a bunch of people. We're with the Jeffersonian investigation."

"Right, right. Who do you need?" she asks. Angela pulls a the list of people she'd made earlier that morning.

"You know some of these aren't patients, but supervisors and wokers." Willie points out.

"Is there a problem?" Hodgins asks. Willie almost doesn't respond for a second.

"I can just get you the patients, but I don't think everyone else will be able to participate.

"Is that because you're names on the list?" Angela asks daringly. Willie swallows hard.

"Not at all. I can get as many people as you want. You can wait in the visitor room." she smiles a fake looking smile both Angela and Hodgins haven't seen since highschool and points them in the direction of the room.

* * *

><p>"This is Fiona Montegomery. Amnesic Disorder." Willie says.<p>

"She's doing this to tick us off." Hodgins mumbles as a short haired woman enters the room.

"Why am I here?"

"We have to ask you some questions about Benja-"

"Angela. Give it a rest." Hodgins says.

"What? She could be a possible murderer."

"I don't remember anyone dying." Fiona points out.

"Do you know what Amnesic means?" Hodgins asks Angela. Angela sighs.

"It was worth a shot."

* * *

><p>"This is Felicity Mason. Body dysmorphic disorder." Willie says with a raise of her eyebrows and a slight smirk. A young girl, no older than eighteen enters the room holding her left hand.<p>

"I know why I'm here." she says seriously. Angela and Hodgins sit up a little straighter.

"Really? So you know what happened to Be-"

"It's because of my sixth finger isn't it?" she sobs, shoving her left hand in their faces. It has exactly five fingers on it.

"Wait, what?" Angela asks counting Felicity's fingers in her head.

"You counted five right?" Hodgins whispers. Angela nods, very confused. He turns to Felicity. "Look, we are actually working on a murder case."

"Okay I get it. Single me out because of my sixth finger!"

"That's not why-" Angela starts but a now frustrated Hodgins interrupts.

"Felicity, you have FIVE fingers. He grabs her hand and starts counting. One, two, three, four, FIVE."

"SIX!" Felicity points frantically to an empty space next to her hand.

"Listen to me!" Angela says. "Were you ever romantically involved with Benjamin Oshiro?"

"Who would ever love anyone with six fingers?" she sobs. "I don't even know who that is."

"Dammit. Willie!" Hodgins calls.

* * *

><p>"What do I do for N3?" Willie asks as Ferra Mallory leaves the room mumbling gibberish.<p>

"Use your imagination." Hodgins rolls his eyes.

* * *

><p>"Nicole Threenore. Echolalia." Willie says. A gorgeous girl enters. She's got long blonde hair that practically glows in the little lighting of the room.<p>

"Echolalia." she says with a nod.

"Hey there." Hodgins smiles. Angela steps on his foot.

"Hey there." Nicole says back.

"I don't get it. What's wrong with you?" Angela asks.

"What's wrong with you?" Nicole asks.

"But, wait, repeating someone isn't a problem. It's just a mental defect. Definitely somethng people can live with. Why are you here."

"Fix your brain or you can't live here." Nicole looks upward as if quoting someone.

"You poor girl."

"Poor girl. Why am I here?" she asks.

"We were wondering if you were connected romantically to Benjamin Oshiro."

"Benjamin Oshiro is dead."

"Yeah he is. We are trying to find out who killed him." Angela says.

"Benjamin Oshiro is my true love." Angela and Hodgins exchange an excited glance.

"Orian said. That. That's what Orian said. Hodgins groans.

"Um, thanks. I think we have everything we need." Angela says. Nicole nods, standing up to leave.

"Kill you. I want to kill you how could you do this to me? I love you." Nicole suddenly says.

"Wait! Nicole! Who said that?"

"Who said that? Who said what?"

* * *

><p>"This is Nora Noni Nelson. She's a supervisor and a therapist for clinical depression."<p>

"Oh three N's. Nice touch." Hodgins says. Angela gets right to the questions.

"How long have you worked here?"

"Nine years."

"Do you like it?"

"Working with depressed people? Oh yes I love it." Nora is extremely sarcastic.

"Have you ever been romantically involved with-"

"Ben? The dead guy? We were friends, but we weren't close. He had a girlfrined. Two actually. Everyone knew he was hooking up with Candace, but no one knew about the other one. No one knows her name."

"Did you?"

"I told you, we're not close."

"We have reason to believe that it might be you." Angela says. Nora simply laughs.

"You guys are funny."

* * *

><p>"Are you serious?" Hodgins asks as the third Natalie skips carefree out of the room.<p>

"How many girls names can you think of that start with the letter U?" Willie argues.

"There has to be someone!" Angela begs, tired of interviewing all these people.

"Only one I can think of with those EXACT initials is Ursela Emerson. But she's just a visitor. She visits her little sister here about once a week."

"Is her little sister connected in some way to Benjamin Oshiro?"

"He used to be her supervisor." Willie says.

"Well call her up!"

* * *

><p>"Ugh, I <em>hate<em> coming here." Ursela grumbles coming through the door. Hodgins is at the end of his nerves now and Angela has fallen asleep again. He doesn't bother to wake her.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Jack Hodgins, please sit and cooperate." Hodgins stands to shake Ursela's hand but she doesn't shake it. She just looks at it in disgust, like it's covered in slime. If you know Hodgins, you know it's an off day if his hands _aren't_ covered in slime.

"Ursela Emerson. So what did Sel do this time? Flirt with you? You can't blame her you know. You've got one of those faces."

"Hey see that girl asleep right there? Yeah, she's my girlfriend-slash-would-be-wife." Ursela rolls her eyes.

"Why am I here?"

"Do you know Ben Oshiro?"

"Yeah, he used to supervise my little sister. He was cute." Ursela admits.

"Were you and Ben...?"

"I'm married...so...no." Ursela laughs. "Is that all?"

"Yes." Hodgins groans. Ursela turns around to walk back out the door, mumbling something like "waste of my time" and Willie enters.

"Okay. It was me. I'm the other woman." Willie bites her lip.

"So you killed Ben?" Willie shakes her head, tears falling.

"No. It wasn't me. I love him. Look, I'll give you my aliby. It'll check out, I promise you. I'll tell you anything you want to know." she sniffles. Hodgins sits back down, relieved.

"Thank god."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Very sorry for the lateness. I did have a chapter written but my internet was down. So here's two chapters! Hope you love them :)**


	28. Sarcasm

May 30, 2008

12:30pm

"Stop tapping. STOP IT!" Lilac yells, slamming her hand down on Orian's.

"Ehhh girl germs." Orian retracts his hand quickly, rubbing his hand on his shirt. Obviously, a typical lunch hour. While Lilac, ironically desires to have a peaceful lunch, she is constantly interrupted by Orian's compulsive tapping. Across the table, Zack has dived nose first in a stack papers covered completely in his own messy scrawl. Phoenix sits on _top_ of the table next to Zack. Despite the constant scolding from various supervisors, including Dr. Lionell, who has recently been assigned to Lilac, Phoenix has manage to stay atop the table, swining his legs in a carfree manner.

Dr. Lionell is a new character. He's shy and about as socially awkward as Zack is. He's always holding a thick book, and it seems, the books change within the hour. Currently, he's deep inside _Pride and Prejudice _by Jane Austen. However, still aware of his surroundings, looking up to keep a careful eye on Lilac who doesn't seem to like him so far.

"He's too much like Zack." she complains after a small pause. Zack looks up with a slight furrow of his brow.

"I thought you liked me." he said, he looks back down and notices a note out of place and edits it.

"Yeah, but I don't want you like watching me 24/7." she crosses her arms and glares in Dr. Lionell's direction. Dr. Lionell's reply is a smile and an eager wave.

"He doesn't like watch you change or sleep though, does he?" Orian asks, weirded out about the whole supervisor thing. He's glad that's just for Lilac case and for some people that were checked in pleading _non compos mentis. _No one's ever had to watch him be crazy. And he likes it that way.

"Well no..."

"So I like 12.5/7" Zack corrects not even hesitating to do the math. It all happens in his head. Like lightning.

"Would you rather him be _your_ supervisor?" Lilac asks Zack. He nods.

"Yes. I very much dislike Ms. Clark. She's rude and she smells awful."

"That was some kickass honesty right there." Orian holds up his hand for a high five. A tiny flash of accomplishment flashes across Zack's face as he holds his hand over his lunch tray to smack Orian's. But it's very brief. He's back to his work in less than a second. He won't take his eyes off them. Over and over he scans, tiny crooked drawings. Phoenix glances over his shoulder more interested and deciphering Zack's impossible handwriting than the actual muder case. Something catch's his eye.

"What's that? It looks like a nick on the...erm...femull."

"Femur." Orian corrects eagerly. Zack lifts his head to look at the both of them. Almost astounded at their fast learning, and returns to look at where Phoenix is pointing.

"That is most likely a pen smudge. You gave me a really bad pen."

"I got the pen from Claire, so don't blame me." Phoenix shakes his head.

"I'm not blaming anyone, I just request a better one. And I can get it myself." Zack says.

"Yeah I bet you'll get a pen from Claire." Lilac raises her eyebrows.

"You don't have to jump to only that assumption. There is a number of people or places I could get a pen from."

"Yeah but you _like_ Claire." she winks. Orian next to her expresses the excitement of a 6 year old with a new spiderman toy.

"You like Claire?" he pleads for the details of the "juicy gossip".

"Did I actually say that out loud?" Zack points out.

"You don't have to if you don't want to. We all know." Lilac says.

"Speaking of Claire, she'd be showing up with her therapist right now, right?" Phoenix adds, looking around.

"I don't care if she's here or not."

"We didn't ask you if you did." Lilac grins.

"So we cracked the case. So Jerry did it right?" Orian asks, changing the subject.

"Not quite. Anyone with military training could have done it." Zack corrects. "Do you know anyone else who has military expirience?"

"Didn't you go to Iraq?" Phoenix asks.

"Oh yeah, that's right. I forgot to tell you guys I killed Ben." Zack says. He never really expiramented with sarcasm until now. He likes it.

"Sometimes they hire top grade supervisors to look after the high profile NCM's there's bound to be one or two of them in the army." Lilac says.

"NCM's?" asks Zack.

"Oh boy, I can't wait to show you our people." Phoenix snickers.

"Our people?"

"What time is it babe?" Phoenix asks Lilac.

"I don't know how about I check my invisible watch?" she asks. Zack laughs.

"Sarcasm." he says. Lilac give him a look like he's gone crazy which veeres in to irony.

"It's almost one." Orian points to a clock hanging on the wall. Lilac and Pheonix trade a few confusing glances like it's a secret language. Lilac a little more refusing and Phoenix begging. They speak little.

"Come on."

"I know where this is going."

"Then you know it'll be fine."

"I don't like them"

"You don't have to go."

"I don't like you around them."

"I'm older than you,"

"What's that have to do with it?"

Orian tries not to get between them and brings his attention to Zack. Resting his head in his hands, Orian looks upward, trying to study him. "What was it like?" he asks.

"What was what like?" replies Zack.

"Before you came here."

"Oh," go back to the memories is a bittersweet feeling. As Orian sits staring up at him with big blue eyes, Zack begins to recall what it was like. Orian doesn't ask many questions but sits and nods. So Zack speaks. About Dr. Brennan and Booth, Angela and Hodgins, Cam and Sweets and Dr. Goodman even Naomi. His colleagues, his friends, his _family_. Lilac and and Phoenix stop telepathically arguing to turn to listen. While everyone in the cafeteria continues to talk, their table only goes silent. It isn't until he finishes that Zack feels a gentle hand on his shoulder. Angela and Hodgins are standing right behind him.


	29. The Unexpected Visitors

May 30, 2008

1:30pm

"Why are you guys here?" Zack questions as he, Angela and Hodgins shuffle with a crowd of people to the doors of the cafeteria.

"We came for some interviews and to see you of course." Angela says, ruffling Zack's hair. Zack smiles warmly. "You totally lied to me." she rolls her eyes.

"How so?" Zack asks, pushing past Lenney, who is picking mashed potatoes out of his hair. He can't tell if this has been the sneaky attack Lilac, Lenney's sworn enemy, or the affection of sweet Orian.

"You said you didn't know anyone. I highly doubt you tell your life story to random strangers." Angela points out. Zack turns pink.

"I…um I figure I'd need socialization and not to isolate myself from my fellow…"

"Inmates?" Hodgins suggests. Angela swats him in the arm.

"Patients." Zack finishes. He tries to veer the conversation to something else. "How's the case coming along?"

"It's tiring. I was up all night." Angela shakes her head.

"Even if she didn't need to be." Hodgins kisses her head. Then, he looks down at the papers in Zack's hands. "What's that?" he asks, taking a grab for it. Zack snatch's his hand back.

"Nothing. It's nothing. Arts and crafts. My creative side, if you will. You don't need to see it." he hurriedly motions over for Orian to come closer.

"Emily says she thinks you have pretty eyes." Orian informs Zack.

"Who's Emily?" Orian just laughs.

"Oh yeah, you can't see her…"

"Zack are you gonna introduce us to your friend?" Hodgins asks, nudging him teasingly. Zack sighs.

"Orian-Angela and Hodgins. Angela and Hodgins-Orian."

"Bonjour." Orian smiles.

"Bonjour." Angela says back. Orian frowns.

"What makes you think I know French?"

"I didn't-"

"Don't mind him." Zack says quickly. He turns directly to Orian and shoves the papers into his arms. Something flashes across Orian's face as if he's changing characters.

"Your notes." Watson studies each paper carefully.

"I need you to take these up to my room. I know you have the master key." Zack whispers, addressing Watson only.

"Of course, sir. And, sir, may I ask you something?"

"Sure." Zack says, a little confused.

"Do you think you've got it. Do you think you know who it is?" the accent's beginning to sound fake, but Zack doesn't bother thinking to much about it. He nods seriously and gives him a gentle push. Turning back to his former co-workers, he smiles brightly, as if changing characters himself.

"Let's take a walk outside. It's really nice out."

"I don't see why not." Hodgins says. "Which way to the outside?"

The warm air on Zack's skin is just part of the reason for his feelings of complete content. Just being in close parameter to Angela and Hodgins seemed to fill the cracks in his broken heart and sooth the aches and pains of his temporary living state. He can't help but smile.

"I've missed you." he admits shyly, gazing at his own pair of slippers.

"We could tell." Hodgins points out referring to Zack's little story telling.

"They asked me. So I answered. Think of them simply as scholars and the history of my time working with you guys their study."

"Whatever their study, they had the best professor in the world." Angela gives Zack an affectionate pinch and Zack continues to blush. The sun is too bright, Zack alone takes refuge under a shady tree but Hodgins and Angela stand in the light, practically glowing. Like angels. It's only just a few seconds that Zack can see this picture, for the two decide to take a seat beside the boy and ask him of his history at the hospital.

"So who's Emily?" Angela asks. Of course she asks this first.

"Most likely one of Orian's many hallucinations." Zack says, stretching his legs out on the grass.

"But there _is _a girl here. A girl you like?" she presses on, making Zack uncomfortable. He almost doesn't even dare thinking of Claire, in fear he might say her name out loud. He's never been afraid to speak his mind. Until now.

"Hey man, you can tell us anything." Hodgins sets a firm hand on Zack's shoulder and shakes him a little. Zack, still smiling shakes his head and pantomiming a zipper being dragged across his lips. His companions chuckle merrily and it only makes him feel better. Their laughter. How he missed those days when that's all they could do. _Laugh_.

Angela run her finger's through Zack's hair while Hodgins examines his hands.

"Your hands are getting better."

"Your hair has gotten longer." the two smile.

"But I haven't changed." Zack assures them. "It's hardly been two weeks."

"Of course." Hodgins says seriously. Feeling a nervous drop in his stomach, Zack clutches his knees to his chest to make it go away and silently utters.

"You don't think I'm crazy, do you?" What makes Zack even more sick is the length of Hodgins and Angela's pause after he says this. As if they are trying to find the right words.

_Why should that be so hard?_ Zack thinks to himself, getting a little worried.

"No Zack, we love you." Angela says, attempting to hug him, but Zack shrugs her off. He can't tell them. He won't tell them.

"We won't ask you why Zack, we just know. You're too brilliant to be here. So that's why you'll be out here soon and things will be…normal."

"Nothing's ever normal." Zack says. But he remains to feel unsettled. He's keeping to much from his friends. If he won't tell them on thing, he will tell them the other.

"I'm working on the case behind your backs." he blurts. Angela's eyes get wide and Hodgins looks as if he's completely and utterly confused. "I've been doing research, I stole the x-rays from Dr. Brennan the other day and I've been interviewing people that work here." his friends are still stunned. "I know it's against the rules or something but I just wanted to help, I wanted to prove myself and I didn't want to at first, which is why I turned Dr. Brennan down when she asked to help with the McIntyre case. I'm really sorry, I'll stop right away if you want and give you all my notes I just-"

"Zack." Hodgins says a little sternly trying to get his attention. Zack looks him right in the eye. "What's there to be sorry for?"

"I don't know," Zack can't imagine the last time he's said those three words. He's always known. What a stupid thing to say. Angela's now a little more interested.

"Well what do you have?" Zack's mind clicks back to the diagrams on his wall.

"You can't tell anyone." he plays his old smirk on his face he hasn't played in a while and bolts across the courtyard, into the building and up the stairs to his room. He knows Angela and Hodgins trust him. Why wasn't it clear in the first place?

But by the time the three reach Zack's room, they meet a shocking sight. The back wall of Zack's room has been completely wiped clean.


	30. Smell That

May 30, 2008

2:00pm

"I don't understand…" is all Hodgins can utter at the concrete wall still dripping in water and fruit smelling soap.

"Trust me, neither do I." Zack says frantically, looking about his room for his notes. He rushes from all sides of the room, checking in his closet, under his pillow - nothing. "Someone's been in here." Zack mumbles to himself.

"Thank you Captain Obvious." Hodgins says deciding to join Zack's search. They start going through Zack's bag, his bed, and every nook and cranny.

"Well who's had access to your room?" Angela asks as they lift Zack's mattress.

"What about that one kid - Oreo or something. You talked to him about some key." Hodgins says putting his hands on his hips. It has been an easy case to solve, the mystery of the missing, murder notes.

"No, no. Orian would never do something like that. Mentally, he's almost incapable. Not even Monroe, his more violent personality would ever steal or lie." Zack protests and doesn't stop searching but even if he does find his notes, they still won't explain the missing diagrams from his wall.

"Well you know, sometimes you can't just judge it on whether or not you think someone may be mentally incapable of something." Hodgins says, raising his voice. He looks Zack right in the eye and Zack stops what he's doing. "I had to learn that the hard way." All of a sudden, it was like the air was filled with needles. No one dared to move let alone say a word. Zack and Hodgins seemed to be dealing with the intense staring, but Angela could hardly bare it.

"Um, I'm calling Brennan. I think she needs to take a look at this." she says. Zack brakes from his staring and looks to Angela.

"No! You mustn't tell any of this to her. Let's pretend I never said a thing and you're gonna go back to the lab and keep working on your case because I'm not supposed to know anything." Zack says.

"Yes, but you do. You do know and this Orian kid is NOT looking so good right now." Angela replies and reaches for her cell phone. With one look at the screen, she groans. "No reception. I'll be outside." she left the guys alone and it was back to the bitter silence.

"I didn't mean to…"

"Kill someone?"

"I was going to say 'snap at your girlfriend' but I guess I should apologize for that too." Zack can't even make eye contact with his old friend anymore. Why is this so hard? He thinks to himself.

"I'm sorry, for being so…I don't know. I just -" Hodgins begins to stutter.

"I hope you don't take offense when I say spit it out." Zack says this awkwardly like he doesn't say this often, which is true. He's only picked up the slang from Lilac.

"No," Hodgins chuckles, "your good. Look, I meant to say that I know that you chose all this, but I don't know why." Hodgins says.

"I can't tell you that." Zack's response is immediate. "Not now anyway."

"But why?" Hodgins was getting frustrated with his own best friend.

"Do you smell that?" Zack interrupted.

"Don't try and change the subject-" Hodgins couldn't finish his sentence before Zack shoved his face into the wall.

"Hey, what the hell, man?" but Zack was too involved in his sudden realization to answer. His energy had shot up about 100 notches.

Zack chuckled as he ran his fingers through his chocolate brown hair in near disbelief.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Well this is a short one but I'm back baby! More to come in less than two days if your ready! Let's wrap this sucker up and even get started on a sequel. Quick question: Who do YOU think is the killer(s)?<strong>_


	31. Meet Me At McKinley

**I am a horrible person. "There should be a new chapter tomorrow." Yeah, haha, if by tomorrow, you mean in 2 1/2 months then yeah. Oh my god you have no idea how awful I feel about this. If you want the truth, my mother doesn't exactly trust me and set up a bunch of random parental blocks on my computer. Because I totally look at porn all day -.- (sarcasm). Anyways, some how was like death blocked and I couldn't access it for months. Well it took some campaigning but i finally got my mom to take the blocks off. And we are back in business!**

May 30, 2008

3:00pm

"Would you hurry up, Bones? Nobody's getting any younger." Booth says, tapping his foot impatiently as he watches his partner type furiously on her computer.

"Well of course not, Booth." Dr. Brennan responds, not even lifting her eyes to look at him. "All humans get older with time, you can't go backwards, it'd be impossible."

"It's a figure of speech."

"I still don't get it."

Booth's tapping increases it's pace, but after while, becomes irregular as his foot gets more weary.

"Could you stop that? I'm trying to concentrate." Brennan says nearly through her teeth. It's not often she gets good inspiration from one of her books. She has to get it all out before she forgets. _The perfect murder_ but a _not so perfect murderer_. How will her brilliant heroine crack this one? _It has to be obvious-but not too obvious. Tricky enough to trick the reader, but not too tricky, so no to frustrate them. _It goes like that. When people read mysteries they like to be into the story, helping their detective. But the catch is the writer needs to make it so the reader can't guess it, but could've guessed it.

"Are you gonna get that?" Booth asks, finally ceasing his tapping. Dr. Brennan snaps out of her deep thinking to find her phone vibrating gently beside her.

"Angela?" she asks, answering it.

"Hey girl, we got some leads on this Oshiro case." Angela says, her voice shaking a bit.

"Okay, I'm on my way over to your office…"

"That's the thing, we're not at the Jeffersonian. We're at McKinley."

"The mental institution?"

"No, the high school in Ohio-OF COURSE THE MENTAL INSTITUTION." Angela grumbles. In the background, Brennan can hear a door open and Zack's squeaky little voice, muttering complete and utter nonsense, over and over again.

"Wait, you guys aren't supposed to be investigating." Dr. Brennan says. Her eyes dart up to an eavesdropping Agent Booth who frowns at these words.

"I know, but we had to ask some of the patients for names and-Zack will you shut up for a sec?-and we thought it wouldn't be that big a deal we didn't want to wait for Booth to finish talking to Mrs. Dorsey or Lance to finish is pointless meetings with Ms. Clarke…"

"What? Pointless but Ms. Clarke doesn't-"

"Zack I said be quiet! So we stopped by to say hi to Zack and he's been doing that thing that he does. Where he figures stuff out. And he gave his friend a key to go to his room and when we got there, all his stuff was gone and we can't find his friend."

"Who's the friend?" Booth asks, after forcing Brennan to put the phone on speaker during Angela's speech.

"I forgot his name. Oren or something. The schizophrenic one."

"Ha I knew it! What did I say? I CALLED IT!" Booth shouts point triumphantly at the cell phone.

"You did not!" Brennan argues. "You thought it was Ms. Clarke."

"That's what I wanted you to think."

"Come on guys, you can flirt when you get down here. But you need to be here asa-ZACK, HONEY, I LOVE YOU BUT YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN-asap guys." Angela hangs up before Booth and Brennan can protest that they _weren't flirting_.


	32. The Odds are Against Them

May 30, 2008

3:31pm

"Zack! Get back here! Where are you going?" Hodgins' voice can be heard from down the hallway. But Zack doesn't look backwards, he darts down the hallway, his dark hair trailing behind him. It's been a while since his last hair cut. His hair's grown back to it's original shaggy mop he sported before he got his doctorate. "Zack!"

He stops just outside Lilac's door, sliding a bit in his slippers. Lilac's door-or rather, Lilac's old door as she was moved due to the fact that her room is now a crime scene-is ajar, just as the forensic team left it, yellow tape marking an X. Zack ignores it and steps right through. _I'm already in the bin, what could they possible do to me?_ He thinks to himself, making his way around the room. Hodgins, who was close in his wake, stops just in front of the tape.

"Zack, you're not allowed in here." Hodgins says.

"_Obviously_." Zack rolls his eyes.

"I'm getting Angela."

"Wait," Zack stops him. "Don't go." Hodgins looks up at his old friend, expecting him to tell him something important or heartfelt. Or to admit that he wants him to stay because he misses him. Instead, Zack says, "I need you to be my witness, make sure I'm not tempering with evidence."

"I'm pretty sure this is against protocol." Hodgins calls from behind the tape, as Zack paces on light foot around the room.

"It probably is." says Zack from the closet.

"Then what, Zack, are you doing here?" Hodgins asks. He's getting angry, but Zack knew this would happen. He does nothing to react to it, but continues pacing. He crosses the room to the bed, it's toppled over and the inner springs are revealed. One of the springs is uncoiled and a bit of dried blood is shown at the end.

"Were you able to confirm that this is Lilac's blood from the bed spring?" Zack calls to Hodgins.

"Yes, why? Did she kill Mr. Oshiro?" Hodgins calls back.

"No, this just means her story checks out. She says the murderer cut at her arm with a bed spring."

"Or Benjamin did it if she was attacking her."

"Why would Ben attack Lilac?" Zack scrunches up his face like this is an odd scenario.

"Maybe if she was attacking Ben, it's self defense."

"No no no, Lilac was unconscious when Ben fell from the window. There was a third person involved." Zack runs his fingers through his hair in contemplation but Hodgins doesn't have to think to hard for his own assumption.

"Enter Lilac's boyfriend and pyromaniac."

"No, he told Booth he was in his room that night and the floor supervisor can confirm it." Zack shakes his head.

"The kid had a master key! Plus it doesn't help he is a pyromaniac and we found burns along side Oshiro's arms."

"Yes, but what did you find in those burns?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're the bug and slime guy. There was residue from the murder weapon wasn't there?"

"Well…yes…" Hodgins starts to mumble. He hates being out smarted by Zack, who was younger and a little less experienced then he.

"What did you find during analysis."

"Vinyl acetate."

"The stuff they find in latex paint and white glue and…"

"Hold up there buddy. How do you know this?" Hodgins quizzes Zack, a boy who shouldn't know this much about bugs and slime.

"I pay attention, I observe, I learn. I worked with you everyday for nearly four years. I know my way around thins kind of stuff. Not to mention the fact that we lived together to duration of most of that and you don't seem to shut up about the sort of stuff." Zack smiles for the sentimental bit.

"And I thought I was a nerd." Hodgins chuckles. But Zack frowns. "Aw come on buddy, it was a joke."

"It's not that, your statement was quite comedic, I'm forgetting something that is made with vinyl acetate."

"Hairspray. But I crossed it off my list a long time ago." Hodgins says swatting his hand in the air like it's nothing. Zack giggles at his friend's response.

"Why would you do that?"

"Aren't you guys not allowed hairspray or something?" Hodgins asks. Zack response with a shrug.

"What makes you so sure it's a patient?" Zack whips around and inspects the window. Usually, in a mental ward, there would be bars on the window. Lilac seems to be a trusted and well advanced patient considering the fact she's had a problem with self harm.

"I got it. Felix's supervisor says that he needs a creative outlet. Perhaps he got taken to painting?"

"Why do you think it's Felix?"

"Why do you think it isn't?" Hodgins asks, putting his hands on his hips and glaring from across the room.

"Put two and two together for once! Stop guessing the obvious and think outside the box!" Zack grumbles. He makes his way back to the front of the room with the door to face his former colleague.

"It's not, it's not you is it?" asks. Zack looks at him as if he's stupid and for a second, the emotion of hurt, flashes across his face, but he almost shakes it off with the flick of his head, maybe to brush away dark curls from falling into his eyes.

"No, but I like the way your brain is working now. Trust no one. Or-trust everyone, and then no one."

"You're the one that's trusting everyone. Felix wanted Ben dead, is in here for pyromania, and can almost be proven to have murdered before."

"It's Phoenix, actually." Zack finds himself saying.

"Then you have Michael Thomas,"

"Orian-"

"Whatever. He loved Ben, is also extremely mentally unstable. He had a pass to your room the moment before all your notes were stolen." Hodgins points out. "The odds are really against them. Then you got Lilac-the only girl that was in the room. Not only did she have problems with authority but had countless records of acting out."

"I'm the one with wrong faith? What about you? Wilma James was at the crime scene when Ben died and her initials were found in Ben's pocket. You got Jerry the night guard who's had the eyes for Willie since forever and is now FINALLY allowed to go out with her. Then you have Miss Candace Clark. She was romantically linked to the victim-who was cheating on her!" Zack just shakes his head. "The odds are against them too. "

"Okay wait a sec here, Zacko, how do you know this stuff?" his colleague asks, in almost bewilderment. Zack simply chuckles.

"This is my life. What do you think? Nearly four years with you guys and you don't think I've learned anything? I was the dork in forensics but I figured stuff out too you know. Here I am in a mental facility because I know _it's for the best right_? But you have no idea how much I long to be back in the rush of things?It's my escape to sanity -this crazy thing that I do. And where I am right now, don't you think I need it?"

Hodgins takes a moment to breathe it all in. "Alright alright. So if your so smart, you probably which one of these unlucky fellows killed Oshiro."

"I do." Zack boasts.

"Really? How?"

For a bit of dramatic effect, Zack inhales deeply through his nose and mutters one thing:

"_cherries._


	33. Anxiety

May 30, 2008

4:00 pm

"Are you sure we're at the right place Booth?" Dr. Brennan asks, poking her out the window only to be face with heavy wire rimmed gates. Agent Booth tensed a little. Every once and a while Dr. Brennan would speak, ruining Seeley's beautiful moment of silence, and although he quite liked the sound of Temperence's voice, it still pushed his nerves. Driving down to McKinely always put him on edge. He lets out a sigh, watching his beloved silence drift out the cracked window into the breeze of the early summer and answers his partner.

"Yes, Bones, this is the right place, we've been here multiple times, remember?"

"It looks different." Dr. Brennan mutters a bit childishly which is completely unlike her. Doctor Brennan has always been confidant in her speech and observations. But today, her voice is cracking. Like MicKinley's presence has changed her.

"You okay Bones?" Booth asks gently touching her hand (with his other hand on the wheel I thought I might add). Dr. Brennan moves her hand away to brush back a stray lock of hair that had fallen from her ponytail. She changes the subject.

"I feel like this case is only half solved. Because I was hardly involved in it." she states as Booths passes his ID to a security guard.

"Well, it hasn't been just you, you know. You had a whole team of squints doing your same job, as always."

"Yes, of course, but it's different this time, it's almost like this case has been harder to do for my part." Bone glances down and picks at the leather in her seat. Booth watches her do so cautiously as he parks the car.

"But you did you're part, you examined the bones, you discovered cause of death was not falling from the window but a neck brake just before." He stops the car but neither move from their seats.

"Yes, but I didn't go anywhere from there, you were the one that classified it as a special military technique. My research got us no where."

"Are you seriously paying attention to anything that is coming out of your mouth right now?" Agent Booth asks, unbuckling his seat belt. Almost to his surprise, Brennan shakes her head, biting her lip just slightly.

"Is it because of-"

"It's not about Zack for goodness sake!" She unbuckles and exists the car in seconds, ending their conversation. Seeley is once again greeted by his favorite silence which he's not exactly happy to see at this point. No one says a word as they enter the building, no matter how much each desperately want to.


	34. Cherries!

May 30, 2008

4:15 pm

"Calm down for two damn seconds and tell me what the hell you mean by _cherries_." Hodgins is nearly screaming by this point as he firmly grips his old colleagues by his shoulders. They're back in Zack's room, waiting for Booth and Brennan.

"A soap, a perfume, a hairspray? Something you put on your body. Something that makes everyone with a fifteen foot radius gag and choke and overall breathe nothing BUT _cherries_."

"Zack you're not making sense. I'm not wearing cherries," he sniffs his shirt "this is definitely Old Spice."

"Definitely." Angela repeats.

"No no no not you, the murderer. She loved cherries." Zack says as he crosses to the wall this his chalk drawings and inhales deeply.

"How do you know the murderer wasn't a he?" Angela asks, taking a seat next to her old friend. "Wow, that is _very cherry_."

"Yea, Iron-"

"Orian."

"Orian had access to your room. Didn't steal one of those master keys?" Hodgins raises an eyebrow but Zack just smiles, leading Jack Hodgins to believe his friend really might be crazy. At this moment, Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth enter the room, both looking stern.

"What do you have guys?" Booth asks, his hands on his hips, very authoritatively.

"Orian or that Michael Thomas kid, was messing with Zack's evidence. We think he might be a good suspect to reexamine." Hodgins says he considers for a second putting his hands on his hips but for some reason, refrains.

"Wait a sec, Zack's evidence?" Booth asks. And Zack breaks his smile to look away sheepishly.

"You didn't know that Zack had been conducting an investigation from the mental asylum?" Angela asks, like Booth and Brennan should have known. The both of them shake their heads and look to Zack who refuses to meet their glance.

"It was sort of behind-your-back kind of thing." his voice has gotten quieter. Perhaps under the slight intimidation of Seeley Booth or maybe from under the stare of Temperance Brennan, a woman he once called a teacher, a colleague, and the closest to a best friend besides Hodgins. But Dr. Brennan's eyes were not stern but soft. He can hardly let back a smirk and when Zack finally looks up from behind twisted curls of chocolate brown he catches her wink.

The next to enter the room is Dr. Lance Sweets.

"Who invited you?" Booth asks, turning to face the lanky psych squint.

"No one did, actually, I was unaware there was a little meet up. I came to tell Zack that he would be getting a new-"

"Not now Sweets, we are in the middle of an investigation." Booth puts up a hand to Sweets who's expression turns to surprise.

"Zack! But you didn't…not again…"

"What? No. It's not me."

"It's Michael Thomas, that schizophrenic friend of his. " Hodgins rolls his eyes. And Zack laughs.

"No…"

"Yes, who else wouldn't want you to investigate this case if you had a lead? Michael was just up here!"

"When? Where is he now?" Seeley reaches for his gun, readying himself for a chase.

"I don't know but you guys it wasn't him." Zack says. Sometimes, is can just be so frustrating when no one will listen let alone understand. But Zack was used to such frustrations and let his scene play out.

"If you don't know where he is, he might be on the run, I'll be right back." and Agent Booth is out the room in a flash. Hodgins and Angela breathe a sigh of relief like the case is close but Dr. Brennan looks on at her former student and Dr. Sweets remains tense.

"That's a lovely smell emitting from that wall." Sweets observes with a slight crack in his voice.

"Sweets, don't be weird. Booths on the trail of Oreo. The crazy kids gonna confess the game is over." Hodgins collapses on Zack's bed and closes his eyes in relaxation.

"Who is is, Zack?" Dr. Brennan finally speaks as she watches Dr. Addy carefully.

"Who else had access to your room besides that rat with the stolen master key?" Hodgins asks.

"Candace Clark." Zack is using his know it all voice he used to only use to piss Dr. Hodgins off but he just couldn't help it today. This was his case. He did it. He solved a case almost all by himself.

"What?" The word was heard from three the four corners of Zack's room from each confused colleague.

"Candace Clark already had a key. Candace Clark was the ex lover of a Benjamin Oshiro. Candace Clark was a jealous wreck. Candace Clark had military training and could snap a neck like Ben's. Candace Clark curled her hair the day that Ben died. Candace Clark used hairspray to do so, and a curling iron. Not that I've had any experience with such as device as I am all natural -believe it or not- but I'm pretty sure that it works with heat."

"Vinyl acetate." Dr. Hodgins mutters with surprise. Zack nods with a smile. Next he turns to Dr. Sweets.

"I hear you've been meeting with Candace about her mental state, Dr. Sweets. Would you like to come over here and sniff that wall?"

"I can smell it from here." Lance chokes.

"What is the scent?" Zack is beside him now. Closer than usual. Over the past week, with the help of Lilac of course, Zack had been able to step out of his comfort zone, standing besides Sweets was unlike him but he felt comfortable despite only knowing him slightly.

"Cherries."

"And from being inside her house for her psych evaluation, what-" he steps aside dramatically giving Sweets a full spot light. Zack enjoys the theatrics. And with his adrenaline so high, he could practically break out into song at any moment. "-is Candace Clark's signature perfume and favorite smell in the entire world?"

"Cherries."

"Cherries!" Zack beams. He can't help but dance. Sweets himself smiles in spite of Zack's glee. Hodgins and Angela give each other approving nods but Brennan's face remains uncracked.

"Oh, I must be coming down with something." she inhales as everyone stares at her. "It seems, you can smell that back wall from here, and I can't smell anything at all from my stand point."

"There must be a similar scent from a different point in the room," but Zack can't say another word before the door swings open and Candance Clark, her hair wild and out in front of her face, her make up running down her face in streaks and her clothing wrinkled as if she'd just been in a struggle, is revealed to the room. In one hand, she grips Lilac's paper engagement ring. In the other, a bloodied, kitchen carving knife.


	35. The Death of Orian Thomas

May 30, 2008

4:45 pm

"You Michael Thomas?" Seeley Booth asks the short blonde haired boy before him at the art table. He remembers to be gentle, there's no knowing when a kid like him could flip out but he couldn't help but get angry. He knew Zack very well considered him a friend and the fact that someone so close to Zack would betray him in such a way made the FBI Agent fume. Even so, he was very near to considering Zack someone…he knew…closely before he did what he did. Perhaps this was karma? Maybe he shouldn't even blame Michael. The kid was a schizophrenic with multiple personality disorder. Maybe he didn't even know what he was doing.

"Nope." Michael looks forward at his sketch, a shadowy woman with what looks like a light saber. His accent has changed, it switches from German to French.

"Yes, yes you are. It says here on the roster." Agent Booth argues.

"I was Michael Thomas, but not anymore." _Oh not this again_. Seeley rolls his eyes.

"Well who are you today?"

"Raven Fabelle. Artiste extraordinaire. I'm sure you've hear of me my work can be found in New York and in Paris. Or perhaps you're a fan of my line of designer overalls." He flips his head to the side and looks up to Booth, a man practically towering him.

"I'm unfamiliar. But I hear you know someone named Orian. I'm looking for him." he talks almost as if he's talking to his son who is nearly a third of Raven's age. Raven utters a tiny whimper much unlike his current voice before he shakes his head.

"Orian is sick." he says, "Orian is dying." he twitches a bit before he starts tapping again.

"Wait, sick like he needs to go to the hospital?"

"No, sick like he is going to die. No one can help him now." Raven seems to crack a somewhat devilish and deviant grin but quickly hides it and grabs a red marker from the middle of the table with greed.

"Now why is that?" Seeley flips out a pad of paper and begins taking notes.

"I have too many faces." the accent is English now. "It's quite cluttered up there." he points to his head.

"Consider it…spring cleaning." He changes characters and accents. He's spanish now. Curling his r's with the tip of is tongue on the roof of his mouth.

"No no no, you see I need Orian for a second, just for a bit and he can go back to being sick. But he did something bad and I need him to talk to me about it."

"What did he do?" the voice is annoyed, the accent American but more feminine.

"He went up to my friend, Zack's room and erased his notes." Booth says. "Look it will just be for a few seconds and then you can get back to drawing your light saber. The boy in front of him, his identity unclear, chuckles.

"You can't curl hair with a light saber." and then, ever so suddenly, he blacks out, slipping from his chair, hitting his head on the carpeted floor. He's out cold.

"Can I get some help here?" Booth asks, holding up the young man who falls limp in his arms. A nurse rushes to his aid and together, they carry him back to his room, conveniently just down the hall. Only when the nurse disappears to get the boys supervisor, does he wake up as Orian, his face pale and sickly. He startles Booth only slightly, as Booths seen scarier, but feels un easy as the boy grasps his arm tighter than normal.

"Help me." he can barely muster.

"Help you with what? What do you need?"

"I'm -I'm dying, sir." the boy talks in whisper much unlike how Agent Booth met him the morning after Mr. Oshiro's death. He shakes and his voice cracks.

"How are you dying?" Seeley asks, checking for a fever or and wounds. Orian puts up a hand to stop him.

"It's my time to go. Don't you fret. I have many other faces. You're lucky, sir, it's usually that no one sees a face die. No one's ever asked upon one while they're sick." he swallows hard and blinks until a single tears rolls down his cheek.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know-" the war veteran and special agent is rendered speechless with no idea what to do next. Never before has he been beside a schizophrenic pretending to die to symbolically say goodbye to a second personality. But he's been beside the dying. And PTSD has him nearly paralyzed with sadness. The boy is so young, at least eighteen, at most twenty-two. His hair is blonde, like Booth's son.

"I was going to drop off the notes in Zack's room like I promised I would. J-j-just not right away. I'm sorry sir. I know I told him I would but, there was someone in his room. That Candace woman. She's a supervisor and I couldn't be caught with a master key."

"I understand." Seeley hides his feelings by talking in a deep authoritative voice. Never once has he cracked during a case. And he wasn't going to give up that streak now.

"I waited until she was done, she was cleaning the walls or something. But something about her, reminded me of something important. Something about the night my Ben-" there are more tears. Orian finds he cannot finish his sentence so he starts anew. "After I became Raven to draw my picture, I knew it was time for Orian to die. Orian was soft. Too affectionate. I knew that after Ben…" it almost as if Orian refuses to admit the reality. "I knew that after that I wouldn't last long. The sadness would crumble…but, I wasn't sad."

"What makes you say that?" Agent Booth asks. It's off topic but he's curious. He's piecing the story together in his head-something he loves to do so very much.

"I met Zack. And how he wanted to solve the case of Benny's…" he picks a new sentence "How he wanted to help everyone who was hurt. It showed this compassion. It revealed someone in this world who loves people no matter what they do. No matter if they're crazy, or were a bit of a player. I didn't know much about how Zack got here but I knew he was lonely. And Lil and I wanted to make him not so lonely. Make him not so sad. We didn't ask for anything in return but-" he squeezes his eyes shut as more tears come.

"If you aren't sad, they why was it decided you should die?"

"I did my part sir, not only am I happy, but Zack is happy. Have you seen him? He's been glowing since he decided to play Sherlock Holmes. I'm ready to go sir. Although," he pauses a long while, as if in thought.

"Although what?"

"It'd just be nice if my two best friends in the entire world were here. If Zack and Lilac good."

"I just saw Zack, maybe if you want-" but Orian shakes his, cutting Booth off.

"I don't have a lot of time. If you could be here. Just stay here until I go. When a face dies, it's always alone. It'd be nice if- I mean, I know I don't know you sir."

"No, no it's fine." Seeley's voice has reduced to a whisper.

It's a minute before Orian's eyes finally close and his head drops down limply. Agent Booth is left to his feelings when a Orian's supervisor enters the room.

"I was told he fainted?" a skinny brunette woman asks, pulling on a pair of glasses.

"Yeah, but he came up for a few seconds." Booth finds himself sniffling and is about to excuse himself when the boy on the bed opens his eyes.

"Good morning. You had quite a fall, young man." his supervisor says.

"I did?" he asks."

"You sure did. Can I ask to I'm speaking to?" there is silence as the boy runs his fingers through his own hair and sniffs the air.

"Charlie?" he asks, like even he doesn't know.

"You don't seem so sure about that." says his supervisor.

"It's a new hat, ma'am." he looks to Seeley like he's a stranger. "Hi, I'm Charlie, nice to meet you." he smiles shyly but holds out a hand.

"Yea, you too…" Seeley looks right into Charlie's eyes as if to find a trace of Orian or Michael or Monroe or even Raven, but finds nothing. The room falls to silence as Charlie re-calibrates as a new personality. But the silence is soon shatter with an ear splitting scream from the hallway.


	36. Against Visitor Regulations

**Here we go. This is the end. 2 years later. So I started this story the summer before high school and now I am about to be a senior and I've really grown a lot as a writer. I've had a few english classes and more importantly, a psych class that told me I WIDELY misrepresented schizophrenia. I'm not gonna say this is my best work. And this ending might suck. But I'm proud of my epilogue, and this is a journey I'm so glad I took. Thank you all for sticking to the end. And BRING BACK ZACK am I right? If you want more I would also recommend you my short romance story I wrote in 10th grade creative writing, "Inside Out", which serves as sort of Lilac and Phoenix's backstory. It has been a pleasure writing for you. You people are the sweetest, most beautiful people I've ever written for. Stay beautiful **

**(fictionpress)s/3201201/1/Inside-Out**

* * *

><p>May 30, 2008<p>

4:15 pm

"I told you Selena was bad news." Lilac says quietly, her arms crossed across her chest. She and Phoenix had been wandering the halls for the past hour, avoiding anyone who wanted them to do something, urged them to paint or read, but more importantly, anyone who wanted to separate them. Being together was the real struggle when all the other therapists insisted their relationship was toxic. Unfortunately, this only brought them closer.

"What does that matter? You know I only have the eyes for you." Phoenix pulls an arm around her and holds her close. She smiles, the warmth calming the knots in her stomach.

It was hard for her, as a troubled adolescent, dealing with depression and problems of self worth to think that anyone would love her, but with Phoenix she was always sure. No matter who batted their lashes his way or invited him up to their door, she knew that he would never break her heart. None of her therapists would hear any of her romance with a fellow psych patient, but if they did, it'd be enough to be a breakthrough. She was locked up for her inability to form relationships with others, and several attempts at self harm or suicide, but to her, Phoenix made it all go away. He was her reason to stay.

"Shit." his words startle her just as she leans her head on his shoulder. They're standing next to a barred window overlooking a particularly gloom side of the parking lot, a pair walking towards the door catches Phoenix's eye. "I bet he's back for me again." he remarks, recognizing Agent Seeley Booth.

"Ugh." Lilac groans. "When will they give up?" she pushes away from him and her stomach turns again. She knows it all means more questions, and more time away from feeling like a normal person again. Phoenix takes her by her shoulders and kisses the top of her head.

"I really wish I could spend more time together, but I gotta look like I'm doing something productive here. If they're here for me, I can't be breaking the rules. It'll look so bad for my case." he tells her. Lilac lets out a heavy sigh.

"I know." her eyes go to the ground.

"My lawyer's already up my ass about breaking the rules." he pauses to look at the girl, the way her green eyes gleam, or how her messy hair rolls down her shoulders across a wrinkled white uniform. "I love you." he tells her. Lilac glances up and meets his gaze.

"I love you too." she can't help but smile. But Phoenix is late. He plants another kiss on her cheek and dashes around the corner. Lilac wants to walk back to her room in an all new daze, but she doesn't make it there before she feels something. That odd, tugging feeling like someone is watching her. She turns around.

"How sentimental." It's hard to recognize the woman as Candace Clarke because her hair isn't in it's usual tight bun. It's wild and in her eyes, squinted in rage.

"Oh I was just—"

"You know that's what everyone wants isn't it? Love?" she pulls from behind her a knife, it's origins unknown. It stops Lilac in her tracks.

"Where did you—"

"It's what I had, until that piece of slime went and cheated on me. God I'd give to have what you have. But apparently I can't have it. Not after Ben." she's walks closer still, close enough to reach out and touch Lilac. Lilac is white as a sheet, she watches the knife while Candace's words rattle in her brain.

"It was you." is all she can utter as Candace takes her hand.

"Of course it was." her voice is quieter now as she lifts Lilac's hand to examine the paper engagement ring Phoenix made. "I left behind too much evidence. And now, I'm afraid, they're here to arrest me." her voice is disturbingly calm. Lilac can feel her heart beat in her ears. "This is cute." she locks her bony fingers around the ring.

"It's mine, Phoenix—"

"Oh I know all about that." she says, snatching the ring from Lilac's finger. Lilac doesn't do anything to get it back for the fear of any sudden move triggering the hand holding the knife.

"I wish I had what you had." Candace whispers, crumpling the ring in her hand. Lilac's skin crawls at the words. _What you had_. "At least," the thin lipped woman continues, "at least I can make things even."

The knife is cold against Lilac's skin, which surprises her. She's sure it'd be red hot in possession of the devil. But she has little time to be surprise, she needs to act. But she can't move. Her body is paralyzed. What can she do? What can she do that won't make this woman hurt her more?

"It's a good thing you're a cutter. They'll just think you did it yourself." she just smiles, while Lilac holds onto tears. "Honestly, what are you gonna do? By the time they find you you'll be transported somewhere Phoenix will never see you again, be it intensive care, or a place far beyond life itself." She drags the knife down Lilac's arm. Blood runs down Lilac's arm like the tears down her face. "What are you gonna do?" Lilac answers with an ear piercing shriek.

This starts the footsteps down the hallways. It startles the knife from Candace's hand.

"You little—" she rushes to pick it up, her only weapon, while the first pair of eyes assess the scene.

"Hey…HEY," Special Agent Seeley Booth is just drawing his gun as Candace disappears around the corner, he speeds after her, followed by a staggering Charlie Thomas. "Why doesn't this facility have a decent alarm system?!" he continues to shout, he turns to Lilac. "Oh my god are you okay?" Lilac's arm is torn apart.

"Please, go after her! It was her! She was the one that killed Ben." Lilac screams, clutching her arm. Charlie rushes to her side. Booth puts his trust in his new friend.

"Charlie, we lost your supervisor down the hall, go find her, get her to a doctor _immediately_. I swear to god, do not hesitate for a minute." But the two are already on their feet, both robes covered in blood.

Seeley's quick to find Candace stumbling down a flight of stairs.

"Get back here!" he shouts to her, "I warn you I am armed," but she has a destination, a place Booth knew the route to all too well. He follows her to Zack's room shouting her name and warning her the dangers of running with knives. By the time they make it to Zack's room, time seems to freeze in that moment.

Candace appears in the doorway first, a sight sure to shock everyone in the room. Followed by Agent Booth who was quick to threateningly place the gun near her head. She drops the knife with a smile.

"Did you solve the case yet, Mr. Detective, or did I spoil it all for you?"

"You could never get me to believe it was on of my friends that killed Ben." Zack responds quickly, looking her up and down. "But I'm glad you've made the whole thing easier. I was getting worried you'd pull together some stone cold team of lawyers."

"What did you think would happen if you locked me up." she asks as she puts her hands in the air, "They'd deem you sane and worth it and pull you from this hell hole? Don't you realize? Once you're in here you don't get out! Things will never be the same for you. You can't just solve crimes from here, you can't just have parties with you buddies and wait for the murder to come to your door! I may be crazy but I'm pretty sure this," she throws her arms around to gesture to the room, "is against visitor regulations."

Seeley has her hands in cuff, and the rest of security are on the scene. Candace gives Zack a wink as they take her out.

"And the Lilac girl?" Booth asks.

"I think she's gonna be okay."

Epilogue

A later date…

5:00 pm

"Look Doc, we're matching!" Lilac takes a seat next to Zack in the front row and lifts a lacy leave to reveal her arm wrapped in bandages that somewhat mirrors her companion's covered arms. Zack is initially startled.

"I thought you were supposed to be a surprise for everyone, isn't it how these things work?" it's not the bandages that startles him, its her whole appearance, a pristine white lace dress that covers her arm and drapes across her delicate, pale shoulders. The hem chases the floor. Her hair is brushed for once and wrapped up high on her head. They even let her wear a little makeup. She looks ages older than she really is.

"No, just for the groom, which sounds a little sexist, now that I think about it." she laces her fingers in Zack's. "Phoenix is crazy superstitious about this kind of thing, so I don't think he'd be out here. I just wanted to see how you were doing. You've been a little glum since everything happened."

"Maybe I miss the chase." Zack gives Lilac's hand a squeeze. "I'm glad you made it out alright." he remarks. Lilac smiles and sighs.

"I really thought I was gone. Which sucks because I finally— I don't know what's happened. Maybe it's him, maybe it's you, maybe my meds are actually working but. I'm just so happy now." Zack smiles.

"You should be. It was all so miraculous."

"Yeah I know. It's just a feeling I'd never thought I'd have before." she beams, and she glows. Something more miraculous than her recovery. "But you, what about you? I can recommend you a doctor you know. I guess you're a doctor too though. What are you a doctor of?"

"I'm not that kind of doctor, I told you."

"But you're smart."

"Maybe not that smart."

"It's just something Clark said. I just. I'm scared that this is where it all stops for me. I'll just be here til the end, destined to be forgotten about. I'll just disappear from their lives and their stories. They'll stop visiting they'll stop— and all my work was for nothing."

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean I wasn't a hot shot investigator in my previous life. But now, now I'm nothing. I'm a name without a face and soon, I won't even be a name."

"That's some bullshit." Lilac spits. "You are the most amazing person I have ever met, next to my boy, Phoenix, of course. Who cares about your old group, who cares if they fade away, never let that shit define you. Let _you _define you."

"Philosophy was never my strong place."

"And neither was making friends but for some reason, those people _love you_. And I — no — we here, we love you." she gives he's hand another squeeze and he turns to her. Zack is on the verge of tears, but he won't let her see that.

"You look beautiful, Lilac." he tells her, her face lights up and she kisses him on the cheek.

"I better go. Don't want Claire to think I took her seat!" she beams maliciously.

"Sorry this is who's seat?!" but Lilac refuses to acknowledge this, rushing out of the room. Zack leans back in his seat, unable to fight a smile.

"And Zack?" Lilac says, stopping at the door and turning back to him, "Don't listen to that psycho. You are always relevant to me. You may not be the king of the real world, but you're the King of the Loony Bin."


End file.
